According to Macworld's report, the pinch-to-zoom patent lawsuit of Apple against Samsung was rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Apple was given two months to make a response regarding the decision.
The patent involved a smartphone or a tablet screen that could differentiate whether one or two fingers were touching it. The report said that Apple made 21 claims against Samsung which were all thrown out by the patent office in the US.
In August 2012, Apple was given US$1.05 billion due to damages from a patent court case against Samsung which also included the pinch-to-zoom feature and other technologies. The Northern Carolina's US District Court awarded Apple with the decision. The jury discovered that 21 out of 24 of the smartphones and tablet from Samsung infringed Apple's patent. Conversely, in December, a retrial of the case was ordered by the court. Apple tried to fight the judgment but Macworld's report seemed to imply that Apple failed.
Samsung filed to remove all the claims presented by Apple against its products. This would lessen the damages that the South Korean company needed to pay its competitor.
Currently, the mobile division of Samsung controls 33.1% of the global market with sales of 76 million phones. On the other hand, Apple marked 20% year on year growth and record sales after selling 31.2 million units. However, their combined market share plunged to 43% in the second quarter from last year's 49% due to increasing competition from new smartphone vendors.
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