South Korean court tosses Samsung patent suit against Apple

A judge in South Korea’s Seoul Central District Court dealt another blow to Samsung on Thursday, dismissing a lawsuit that claimed Apple had infringed on Samsung mobile patents.

Samsung had been seeking 100 million won (just over $95,000) in damages and a ban on the sale of Apple products that allegedly violated patents on mobile messaging technology — including the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, Reuters reports.

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The three patents in question included methods for grouping short messages (SMS) from the same sender and saving message drafts when switching between apps. The Seoul Central District Court rejected all of Samsung’s claims, noting that these methods could be developed using existing technologies.

This is only the latest spat in a patent feud that has been ongoing since 2011, when Apple first alleged that the Korean company’s Galaxy phones and tablets violated Apple patents and trademarks. Samsung has steadily refuted these claims and launched a countersuit of its own. After a brief ban in Europe, a whimsical trip through science-fiction history, and unflattering documents highlighting Samsung’s “slavish” attention to Apple’s attention to detail, this latest blow may strike some as a bit wearisome. But fret not; Samsung has said it will “review the ruling before deciding whether to appeal.”