Apple Inc won an injunction in a Dutch court on Wednesday to prevent Samsung Electronics Co from marketing three smartphone models in some European countries after alleging a breach of patents.
Apple, which has conquered the high end of the phone market with its iPhone, argued that Samsung had infringed on three of its patents.
The court ruled Samsung smartphones Galaxy S, S II and Ace breached just one of Apple’s patents.
The Apple patent allows for a certain method of scrolling or browsing through photographs in some Samsung smartphones, the court said.
“It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” Apple said in a statement.
The court dismissed all other demands by Apple, saying there were no violations of two other Apple patents, no violations for Samsung’s tablet computer Galaxy Tab and no violations of model rights.
There was also no “slavish style copying,” the court said.
The patent violation could be solved by making technical changes in the smartphones, the court said in its ruling. This would then allow the sale of the smartphones.
Separately, a US judge on Wednesday scheduled a trial between Apple and Samsung for July 30 next year over the companies’ intellectual property claims in the US.
The injunction from the Dutch court applies in the Netherlands and other European countries where the patent is registered and takes effect seven weeks and one day after Samsung acknowledges it — meaning not before Oct. 13 — a spokeswoman for the court in The Hague said.
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