A Dutch court has sided with Apple against Samsung n a FRAND patent dispute, reports "FOSS Patents" (http://macte.ch/rxc6A).

The District Court of The Hague, Netherlands said that Samsung can't pursue injunctive relief as long as Apple is willing to negotiate a license agreement under FRAND terms for wireless patents, "an effort that shouldn't be marred by the threat of an injunction." The court also ruled that Samsung can't assert its 3G/UMTS wireless patents against the iPhone 4S because of "patent exhaustion."

Apple is licensed by extension since it purchases baseband chips from Qualcomm, and Samsung's attempt to terminate its license agreement with Qualcomm as far as third-party beneficiary Apple is concerned failed because Samsung had make a commitment to ETSI, the standards body in charge of 3G, that it would grant irrevocable licenses to its 3G/UMTS-essential patents, writes Florian Mueller of "FOSS Patents."

This is the latest round in the global, ongoing brouhaha between Apple and Samsung involving patent disputes. The two companies have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents.