Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Apple and Samsung Both Get South Korea Bans

Posted by Soulskill on from the can-we-do-this-in-every-country-until-they-stop-fighting dept.

New submitter Mackadoodledoo sends this quote from the BBC: "A South Korean court has ruled that Apple and Samsung both infringed each other's patents on mobile devices. The court imposed a limited ban on national sales of products by both companies covered by the ruling. It ruled that U.S.-based Apple had infringed two patents held by Samsung, while the Korean firm had violated one of Apple's patents. The sales ban will apply to Apple's iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and its tablets the iPad and iPad 2. Samsung products affected by the ban include its smartphone models Galaxy SI and SII and its Galaxy Tab and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet PCs."

13 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. Thats one way.. by EponymousCustard · · Score: 5, Insightful

    to stop the patent wars! Ban everybody!

    1. Re:Thats one way.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is exactly what the US should do if they had half a brain. Nobody wins with software patents. Not even "Hello world".

    2. Re:Thats one way.. by DJRumpy · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I'll assume you're being facetious, but the general idea is that a company can patent an idea and profit from it on an exclusive basis for a short time. Unfortunately the 'short time' part has been twisted beyond recognition.

      I actually agree with the original intent as it does give incentive to invent in the form of compensation, but now its just grown to ridiculous lengths for the length of time the patent can generate income and it stifles competition.

    3. Re:Thats one way.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Notice the judge didn't ban the Galaxy S3 - this is a win for Samsung.

    4. Re:Thats one way.. by teg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'll assume you're being facetious, but the general idea is that a company can patent an idea and profit from it on an exclusive basis for a short time. Unfortunately the 'short time' part has been twisted beyond recognition.

      That is for copyright. Patents don't last much longer than they used to - in fact, due to killing submarine patents the problem has decreased somewhat.

    5. Re:Thats one way.. by Nerdfest · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Lawyers win. Why would they change that?

  2. Damages by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I find it interesting that Apple was ordered to pay more in damages than Samsung was, even though Apple brought the suit.

    That seems pretty damning to me.

    --
    while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
  3. How's the thermonuclear war goin' for ya, Steve-O? by Man+On+Pink+Corner · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Starting to understand the whole MAD thing yet?

  4. Why am I reminded... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...of my mother threatening to bash my and my brother's heads together?

  5. Re:Hahaha! by captainpanic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You don't understand it. The lawyers are indeed really happy. They still got paid.

  6. Cold War strategy? by dskoll · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I believe this is what was referred to as Mutually Assured Destruction. That doctrine probably prevented nuclear war during the Cold War, but alas... Apple's not as rational as the Russians or Americans, so it lobbed the nuclear bomb of patent litigation anyway.

  7. Re:Patent War by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Strange game. The only winning move is, not to play.

    The only winning move is being a lawyer

  8. at least this will make LG happy by excelsior_gr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This will certainly be a boost for the LG phones in Korea.