Controversies
From 1999 to 2002, the company conspired with Hynix Semiconductor, Infineon Technologies, Elpida Memory (Hitachi and NEC) and Micron Technology to fix the prices of DRAM chips sold to American computer makers. In 2005 Samsung agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $300 million fine, the second-largest criminal antitrust fine in US history. Three Samsung executives agreed to plead guilty and serve several months in prison.
In May 2010, the EU antitrust watchdog levied a €145.73 million fine against Samsung for the same DRAM cartel.
In December 2010, the European Commission fined six LCD panel producers, including Samsung, a total of €648.925 million for operating a cartel. The company received a full reduction of the potential fine for being the first firm to cooperate with the EU anti-trust authorities.
In April 2011, Apple Inc. announced that they were suing Samsung over the design of its Galaxy range of mobile phones. The lawsuit was filed on 15 April 2011 and alleges that Samsung violated Apple's trademarks and patents and "slavishly" copied the iPhone and iPad. Of the lawsuit, Apple said "This kind of blatant copying is wrong." Samsung issued a statement saying "Samsung's development of core technologies and strengthening our intellectual property portfolio are keys to our continued success" before announcing that they would contest the allegations. A few days later, Samsung issued a counterclaim against Apple claiming patent infringement. In August 2011, at The Regional Court of Düsseldorf, Apple were granted a preliminary injunction against the sale and marketing of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 across the whole of Europe excluding the Netherlands. The ban has been temporarily lifted in the European Union, with the exclusion of Germany, whilst it is investigated whether or not the original injunction was appropriate.
As part of the ongoing conflict between Samsung and Apple Inc., Samsung filed a claim with the Federal Court of Australia on 16 September 2011, accusing Apple of patent infringement by Apple's iPhone and iPad on seven patents.
On August 24, 2012, a U.S. jury ruled that Samsung should pay to Apple for $1.05 billion (£665m) in damages in an intellectual property lawsuit. Samsung said they will appeal the court ruling.
On August 31, 2012, the Tokyo District Court ruled Samsung Electronics' mobile devices did not violate an Apple Inc. patent, awarding the South Korean firm a victory a week after it lost a landmark patent case in the United States. The case only addressed Apple's patent that allows mobile devices and personal computers to synchronize or share data with each other and is not comparable with the U.S. court case ruled on August 24.
On October 2, 2012, Samsung announced it filed a new lawsuit against Apple Inc. in a U.S. court, contending the iPhone 5 infringed on Samsung's patents.
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