Samsung fails to block sales of Apple iPads and iPhones in Japan

Samsung failed in a bid to block sales of Apple iPads and iPhones in Japan, the latest step in a global patent spat between the world's two largest smartphone makers.

The Tokyo District Court rejected the request as Samsung hadn't negotiated "sincerely" with Apple over licensing data-sending patents, judge Ichiro Otaka said in a ruling today. The court also ruled that Samsung doesn't have the right to seek damages from Apple.

Samsung is "disappointed" with the court decision, Nam Ki-yung, a spokesman, said by e-mail. "We will take the measures necessary to protect our intellectual property rights." Takashi Takebayashi, a Tokyo-based spokesman for Apple, declined to comment when contacted by phone.

The two phone-makers are suing each other in dozens of cases worldwide, trying to use patents to force the other into changing products or removing some models from sale. At stake is market share in the mobile-device market that researcher Yankee Group expects to double to US$847 billion by 2016.

In August, the Tokyo District Court separately ruled that Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung's smartphones and a tablet computer didn't infringe on an Apple invention for synchronizing music and video data with servers.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, claimed that the Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S II infringed the patent on synchronization, and sought ¥100 million in damages, according to court documents.

* Bloomberg News