South Korean Court To Apple And Samsung: You're Both Guilty

Sometimes, everybody's wrong. That seems to be a South Korean court's take on the Apple/Samsung battle, which is being fought in courts in the U.S. and abroad. Although the court doesn't buy Apple's claim that theiPhone 4 and Galaxy S are too similar for consumers to tell them apart, it has found both companies guilty of infringing on each other's patents. The result: the court has put the kibosh on both devices.

It looks as though only older models of these devices are banned. On Apple's side, the iPhone 3GS is out, as are the iPhone 4. The iPad 1 and 2 also are out. From the Samsung Galaxy series, banned models including the S and S2, as well as the Tab and the Tab 10.1.

So what patents caused all the trouble? The court says that Samsung violated Apple's patents for certain graphic effects, while Apple violated wireless patents held by Samsung. It remains to be seen who has more trouble working around these infringements, but it looks like Apple may have more work to do than Samsung. The court gave monetary damages to both companies, with Apple owing about $13,000 more to Samsung. The tiny award pales compared to the immediate loss of business for both companies.