Samsung (Photo : Reuters)
Samsung might actually end up helping its arch-competitor Apple to save around $533 million in fines over a patent infringement case in February.
Apple was told by a jury to pay that amount to Smartflash LLC, a Texas licensing firm who claims that the iTunes service infringed on their patents.
Now, Samsung is also being sued over the same patents. What is different, however, is that the Korean company managed to convince U.S. regulators to investigate whether Smartflash's involved patents should have been granted anyway.
Once the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decides to render the patents void, both Samsung and Apple will not be fined anymore.
Apple already spent four years trying to make the patent infringement case go away, according to Bloomberg.
Smartflash's patents involve in the access of digital data through various payment systems, similar to the iTunes service. Patrick Racz, the inventor of the patent, said in the complaint that he initially planned to commercialize the system through Britney Spears in 2002.
However, it does not look good for Smartflash. The previous reviews of the agency show that 100 percent of its patent cases claiming that it was their idea were found ineligible, according to Fitzpatrick law firm's study
A total of six patents were asserted against Samsung and Apple, while five of those will be reviewed by the patent office. Some of which were based on petitions made by the iPhone maker, and the newest ones based on Samsung's petitions.
Samsung also filed another petition to nullify one of the patents involved in Apple and their case is still pending approval.
