In the ongoing war between Apple and Samsung (News - Alert), the former has lost a battle in the Netherlands. A Dutch court has again ruled against Apple Inc. in its suit against South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., saying that the Galaxy tablet computers don't infringe an Apple (News - Alert) patent on touchscreen interfaces.

The Dutch case is only of many Apple is pursuing against Samsung in what’s being called a “reciprocal patent war.” If Apple had been successful in the Netherlands, it could have disrupted Samsung's ability to distribute in Europe through the port of Rotterdam.


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Apple lost a request for a provisional ruling in August 2011, and an appeal in January. The Hague District Court's ruling published Thursday is a full-fledged civil suit on the same point. Like British and German courts, the Dutch court found that the touchscreen interface Samsung's Galaxy tabs use does not violate Apple's patents.

The news hasn’t been all bad for Apple this week. Just yesterday, a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) judge handed Apple a preliminary victory in one of its patent battles with Samsung, ruling that the Korean company infringed some of the iPhone (News - Alert) maker's patents.

Administrative law judge Thomas Pender ruled that Samsung had infringed some parts of Apple's patents related to mobile devices. The patents at issue include those covering the design of the iPhone and technology both for touchscreen devices and for connecting headphones.