Samsung wins appeal in patent dispute with Apple

A U.S. appeals court overturned Apple’s lower-court victory in a patent suit against Samsung on Friday, ruling that the Korean electronics giant did not violate Apple’s three patents and does not have to pay about $120 million in damages.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., dismissed Apple’s claims that Samsung infringed upon three patents on “quick links,” “slide-to-unlock” and “auto-correct” technologies.

The appeals court also upheld a lower court ruling that Apple infringed on one Samsung patent.

“We reverse the district court's denial of Samsung's motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) of non-infringement and find that Apple failed to prove, as a matter of law, that the accused Samsung products use an 'analyzer server' as we have previously construed that term," the court said in the verdict, referring to the "quick links" patent, according to Yonhap news agency.

"We also reverse the district court's denial of JMOL of the invalidity of Apple's '721 and '172 patents, finding that the asserted claims of both patents would have been obviously based on technology invented and known before the patents were applied for," the court said, referring to the two other Apple patents.

Friday's ruling overturned the 2012 verdict by a federal court in San Jose, California, that ordered Samsung to pay Apple $119.6 million for violating the three patents. The lower court had ordered Apple to pay Samsung $158,400, and that verdict was upheld in Friday's ruling.

After the verdict, a Samsung spokeswoman said: "Today's decision is a win for consumer choice and puts competition back where it belongs -- in the marketplace, not in the courtroom.”