A Japanese court on Thursday handed down a favorable ruling for Apple in a lawsuit filed by Samsung, which alleged the Cupertino company misused certain 3G wireless patents in versions of the iPhone.
Update: According to a follow-up report from The Times of India, the case in question deals with Samsung's assertion of data transmission patents against a number of iPhone models. This article has been updated to reflect the new information.
Samsung first filed suit against Apple in April of 2011, seeking an injunction against Apple's handset over unauthorized use of certain data transmission patents. Thursday's ruling found that the Korean company does not have the right to assert the 3G technologies in court.
"We are disappointed by today's court decision," Samsung said in a prepared statement first reported by Reuters. "Following a thorough review of the ruling, we will take the measures necessary to protect our intellectual property rights."
Most recently, Samsung lodged a request with a California court to subpoena documents from the Apple v. Samsung patent trial to be used toward discovery in similar litigation being heard in Japan. At the time, Apple opposed the motion, arguing that action was an attempt at sidestepping normal Japanese court procedures. The U.S. court agreed and denied the subpoena request.
Samsung did find success in Japan last August when the Tokyo District Court ruled against an Apple patent claim regarding infringement of a property relating to the synchronization of music and video data with off-site servers. That case is currently under appeal with the Intellectual Property High Court in Tokyo.