Judge Invalidates Two Samsung Patent Claims Ahead of Second Patent Lawsuit with Apple

by

Last May, Apple filed a motion detailing five patents violated by the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Google's voice activated search assistant Google Now ahead of a second patent infringement lawsuit to take place on March 31, 2014. However, both Apple and Samsung agreed in September 2013 to drop one patent each from the trial, as Judge Lucy Koh ordered both companies to narrow the scope of their ongoing legal battle.

apple_samsung_logos
Now, FOSS Patents reports that Judge Koh yesterday invalidated a Samsung patent and ruled that Samsung infringed on an Apple patent, leaving the Korean company with only four patents to bring to the upcoming trial. In detail, Judge Koh nullified a Samsung multimedia synchronization patent and stated that Samsung's Android devices infringed on an Apple patent for a "method, system, and graphical user interface for providing word recommendations", also known as autocomplete.

As Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents suggests, the infringed autocomplete patent could also be problematic for Google and Android device manufacturers:

If Samsung infringes this autocomplete patent (which is what Judge Koh concluded), then other Android device makers also have a problem. Google, which may be (possibly in close cooperation with Samsung) involved with an anonymous reexamination request against the word recommendations patent, will clearly be unhappy about this finding by its own home court.

The ruling by Judge Koh is also likely to affect the mediation meeting between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung Electronics CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon scheduled to take place on or before February 19. In addition to the second infringement lawsuit in March, both companies will also partake in a trial centered around Apple's new call for a U.S. ban on Samsung products set for January 30.


Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
Read Full Article • 96 comments
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
Read Full Article • 52 comments
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
Read Full Article • 114 comments
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Read Full Article • 33 comments
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...
Read Full Article • 80 comments
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
Read Full Article • 50 comments

Top Rated Comments

Unggoy Murderer Avatar
Unggoy Murderer
150 months ago
Lucy Koh is the only judge on the planet who ALWAYS rules in Apple's favor. In all other countries, it's so much more difficult for Apple to defend its (design) patents - and at least half of the time, Apple loses.

Must be great to be an American corporation in an American court.

Oh please, even a South Korean judge recently dismissed a Samsung lawsuit against Apple. Samsung are being found out left, right and centre - pull your head out of the clouds and see what's really going on.

MacRumours.com article (https://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/12/south-korean-court-dismisses-samsungs-patent-lawsuit-against-apple/)
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Oletros Avatar
Oletros
150 months ago
Mueller predicting doom and gloom about Googgle? Shocking.

The claim 18 infringed by Samsung:

18. A graphical user interface on a portable electronic device with a keyboard and a touch screen display, comprising: a first area of the touch screen display that displays a current character string being input by a user with the keyboard; and a second area of the touch screen display separate from the first area that displays the current character string or a portion thereof and a suggested replacement character string for the current character string; wherein; the current character string in the first area is replaced with the suggested replacement character string if the user activates a key on the keyboard associated with a delimiter; the current character string in the first area is replaced with the suggested replacement character string if the user performs a gesture on the suggested replacement character string in the second area; and the current character string in the first area is kept if the user performs a gesture in the second area on the current character string or the portion thereof displayed in the second area.


----------

Lucy Koh is the only judge on the planet who ALWAYS rules in Apple's favor.

Wrong
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dragicon Avatar
dragicon
150 months ago
The fact that this is over something as ridiculous as autocomplete just shows how these patent lawsuits have gotten out of hand. It is amazing that a company can patent something so simple. How apple was able to patent such a thing in the first place is where the real crime is. Hardware and design is a different story than this in my book.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Winni Avatar
Winni
150 months ago
Lucy Koh is the only judge on the planet who ALWAYS rules in Apple's favor. In all other countries, it's so much more difficult for Apple to defend its (design) patents - and at least half of the time, Apple loses.

Must be great to be an American corporation in an American court.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WilliamLondon Avatar
WilliamLondon
150 months ago
Oh please, even a South Korean judge recently dismissed a Samsung lawsuit against Apple. Samsung are being found out left, right and centre - pull your head out of the clouds and see what's really going on.

MacRumours.com article (https://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/12/south-korean-court-dismisses-samsungs-patent-lawsuit-against-apple/)

Long time troll, he tosses his anti-Apple turds around the forum and then runs away. Same every single time.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Oletros Avatar
Oletros
150 months ago
So you clearly chosed to ignore the fact that they did actually win in Samsungs home, regardles of similar rulings on the past?

Well, if the OP say that Judge Koh is the only judge that always rules in favour of Apple posting a link from other Judge that has ruled against Samsung doesn't prove anything.

Perhaps is better to post a link to rulings from Judge Koh against Apple, and she has some of them. Funny thing is that when that happens then she is in Samsung pockets or people remembers her ascendancy.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments