A Japanese court on Friday will issue a ruling in a bitter patent dispute between Apple and its South Korean rival Samsung, the latest case in a global war between the two technology giants.
The Tokyo District Court was expected to rule on Apple's claim that Samsung illegally copied technology from its iconic iPhone and iPad tablet for some of its Galaxy smartphones and the Galaxy Tab.
Samsung has steadfastly denied those claims in a string of similar cases filed across the globe.
The Tokyo ruling comes a week after the iPhone maker won more than $1.0 billion in a massive US court victory over Samsung with jurors finding that the South Korean firm had "willfully" infringed on Apple's patents.
Jurors rejected the South Korean electronics firm's patent theft counterclaims against Apple.
The high-profile verdict affects patents on a range of Samsung products including some of its popular smartphones and its Galaxy 10 tablet—devices alleged to have been copied from the iPhone and iPad.
Also last week, a court in Seoul ruled the pair had both swiped each other's technology and awarded damages to both technology giants.
It also imposed a partial ban on product sales in South Korea of Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad 2, as well as Samsung's Galaxy S and Galaxy S II among other products.
"If the (Japanese) verdict rules that Samsung violated patent rights, it would have a significant impact on Samsung," said Michiru Takahashi, a patent lawyer at Jones Day in Tokyo.
"But if the verdict does not recognise a violation... Samsung will regain momentum," she added.
The patent cases could shake up the sizzling market for mobile devices in which Apple has been losing ground to rivals like Samsung that use the Android operating system developed by Google.
A survey by research firm IDC showed Samsung shipped 50.2 million smartphones globally in the April-June period, while Apple sold 26 million iPhones. IDC said Samsung held 32.6 percent of the market to 16.9 percent for Apple.
(c) 2012 AFP
