Samsung Electronics has won the latest case in its continuing battle with the American owned computer company Apple over property rights. A court in Japan ruled in favor of the South Korean company last week in a case involving its Galaxy series of smartphones and tablets.

三星电子在与美国苹果电脑公司的长期知识产权大战中赢得了最新一局。日本一家法院上周在涉及Galaxy系列智能手机和平板电脑的一起案件中裁定支持韩国三星公司。

The three-judge panel in Tokyo said the products did not violate the property rights of an Apple patent for organizing music and video across devices. The court also ordered Apple to pay all costs relating to the court case.

由三人组成的东京法官团表示，三星旗下的这些产品并没有侵犯苹果跨设备整理音乐和视频这一专利的知识产权。法院还判决苹果支付案件有关的一些费用。

The case is just one of many in the worldwide legal battle between Apple and Samsung.

这只是苹果和三星全球法律大战众多案件中的一件。

Last month, a jury in the state of California found the South Korean company guilty of willfully violating property rights on several patents owned by Apple. The California jury awarded Apple more than one billion dollars in damages.

上个月，加州的一个陪审团裁决韩国三星公司在苹果拥有的多项专利上蓄意侵犯知识产权罪名成立。加州陪审团判给苹果超过10亿美元损失。

The patents include so-called utility patents for Apple's "pinch to zoom" and "tap to zoom" technology. They also include design patents on the look and shape of the iPhone, and one for the home screen design.

这些专利包括苹果公司“捏拉缩放”和“点击缩放”技术这些所谓的实用新型专利，还包括就苹果外观和形状的外观设计专利，以及主屏幕设计的一项专利。

Madhavi Sunder is a professor of law at the University of California, Davis. She has also written a new book called "From Goods to a Good Life: Intellectual Property and Global Justice." She says issues involving design patents are more complex.

桑德（Madhavi Sunder）是加州大学戴维斯分校的法学教授。她还写了一本名为“从商品到美好生活：知识产权和全球正义”的新书。她表示，涉及外观设计专利的问题更为复杂。

MADHAVI SUNDER: "These design patents are much more controversial. And a big question here is that what market competition is all about."

桑德：“这些外观设计专利更有争议。这其中一个很大的问题是市场竞争是指什么？”

Professor Sunder says patents are meant to increase competition and support design and development.

桑德教授表示，专利是为了提高竞争力，支持设计和开发。

MADHAVI SUNDER: "For Apple to say its design -- which becomes a new industry standard, the standard of sleek, cool, modern gadgets -- is something that only one company can have an exclusive right over, this is a real problem. And it raises the real question of whether or not we should be protecting designs with patents in the first place."

桑德：“苹果公司说它的设计已经成为一个新的行业标准，是时尚、酷、现代新发明的标准，只有一家公司可以对此有独占权。它提出了这样一个实际的问题，我们是否应该把保护外观专利放在首位。”

She says Apple built its computer company using the same methods that it is now opposing.

她说，苹果用它目前反对的相同做法建立了自己的电脑公司。

MADHAVI SUNDER: "Steve Jobs, ironically, built Apple's reputation on the fact that Apple freely took all the best ideas that were out there and tweaked them and modified them to create a better product. He often quoted Picasso who said ‘good artists copy but great artists steal.' The said thing now is that Apple is saying they can do it but no one else after them can. This goes to the heart of what innovation is about."

桑德：“具有讽刺意味的是，乔布斯建立苹果的声誉是基于苹果免费采用了所有最好的创意并加以调整和修改从而创造一种更好的产品。他经常引用毕加索说过的‘好的艺术家复制作品，伟大的艺术家窃取灵感’。现在说的事情是，苹果公司说他们可以这样做，但他们之后别人不可以。这进入了什么是创新的这个重点。”

Samsung said the California court's verdict, in its words, "should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for American consumers."

三星表示加州法院的判决用它的话来说就是，“不应该被看作是苹果的胜利，而应该被看作是美国消费者的损失。”

In a rare memo to its employees, the company said it would continue its fight until its arguments are accepted.

三星公司在给员工的一份罕见的备忘录中表示，它会继续斗争，直到其论点被接受。

On the same day as the California ruling, a court in South Korea ruled in another case that both Apple and Samsung had violated each other's patents.

在加州法院裁决的同一天，韩国一家法院在另一起案件中裁定，苹果和三星彼此都侵犯了对方的专利。