ITC judge says Apple’s devices don’t infringe on Samsung’s patents

US ITC Judge James Gildea has ruled today that Apple’s products did not violate Samsung’s patents. This is the second US victory for Apple over Samsung in the last month.

Samsung originally filed the complaint with the International Trade Commission back in June of last year, complaining that Apple mobile devices violated four of its patents…

But apparently, Judge Gildea didn’t agree. Bloomberg reports:

“Apple didn’t violate Samsung’s patent rights, ITC Judge James Gildea said in a notice posted on the agency’s website. The judge’s findings are subject to review by the full commission, which has the power to block imports of products that infringe U.S. patents…

…Gildea said there was no infringement of any of the four patents in the ITC case, and also determined that Samsung had not proven it had a domestic industry that used the patents, a requirement that is unique to the trade agency. The judge didn’t provide the reasons behind his findings. The opinion will be public after both sides get a chance to redact confidential information.”

The ruling is subject to a review by the full Commission, so it’s not final. But this is still a big win for Apple. Since the iPhone-maker started accusing Samsung of infringement last year, the Korean company has been exhausting its own wireless IP in counter-attacks.

Apple for it’s part, also has an ITC complaint pending against Samsung, and we’re expecting to hear a ruling in that case on October 19th. It’s interesting, as Bloomberg points out, the two companies make more than half the smartphones sold in the world, and they are currently involved in more than 30 lawsuits on four continents. And they’re supply chain partners.

Go figure.