A year-long patent war between smartphone giants Apple and Samsung has sent shockwaves throughout the global market. Many here in China are worrying that Samsung's lawsuit defeat may affect China's smartphone market.

After Apple won its lawsuit against Samsung America, the company appealed to court for a ban on eight Samsung smartphones in the U.S. market. There are concerns that Apple may take the same legal action against Samsung or other Android phones in China. Professor Ding Daoqin said this is unlikely in the short term.

Ding, professor of China Academy of Telecom. Research of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said, "Sales of Samsung smartphones in China won't be affected in the near future. From a legal point of view, there's still a possiblity that Apple might sue Samsung and other Android phones at some point. But I don't think that will happen in a short period of time."

Ding said the patent war between the two smartphone giants will ring alarm bells for China's mobile phone makers.

"Chinese companies like ZTE and Huawei have already done a lot to protect their property rights. But given the Apple and Samsung case, they should re-evaluate their use of patents and prepare for possible patent lawsuits. The patent war will make them take originality and innovation more seriously," Ding said.

Apple's sweeping patent lawsuits have cast a shadow on Android smartphones. Some are worrying that phone makers will turn to the Windows system in the future. But Ding said Android has already gained a dominant market share and phone makers will not give it up soon.

The Apple and Samsung patent war has lasted for more than a year. Some U.S. experts have also expressed concern about the current patent laws. They say Apple may abuse the patent system to exclude competitors and monopolize the global technology market. And that would be bad for development of the industry.

(CNTV.cn September 4, 2012)