Dutch court rules Samsung did not violate Apple’s prized multitouch gesture patents

A court in The Netherlands let Samsung off the hook, ruling that some of the South Korean conglomerate’s many Galaxy smartphones and tablets did not infringe upon Apple’s prized patents related to multitouch gestures on iPhones and iPads.

The news of the ruling in The Netherlands was first reported by Reuters.

“With these products Samsung does not infringe the claims that Apple has made”, the court said in its ruling on Wednesday.

The Next Web has a statement from Samsung:

We welcome today’s ruling, which affirms our position that our products do not infringe Apple’s intellectual property.

For decades, we have heavily invested in pioneering the development of technological and design innovations in the mobile industry, which have been constantly reflected in our products.

We will continue to further develop and introduce products that enhance the lives of Dutch consumers.

Patent blogger Florian Müeller notes that the ruling should have no bearing on patent wars Apple and Samsung are now waging in at least ten countries worldwide.

This non-win was expected. The Dutch court was the first European court to throw out this patent, which would have quite some impact if Apple’s interpretation of its scope ever was adopted.

Apple previously lost a preliminary injunction on this patent against Samsung and Google’s subsidiary Motorola in Mannheim, Germany, and against HTC in London.