A Japanese court on Friday rejected patent claims made by Apple against Samsung Electronics, a win for the Korean company following its crushing defeat in the U.S. last week - and a reminder of the global scope of the patent war between the two tech giants.

With a judge in South Korea handing down a split decision in a patent case last week, Apple and Samsung remain neck-and-neck in a series of legal disputes spanning almost a dozen countries.

For both companies, Japan makes up a far smaller chunk of sales than the all-important American market. But the Tokyo ruling suggests that despite Apple's win in the U.S. last week - which included a $1 billion judgment against Samsung - jostling between the two firms for the upper hand in the fast-growing smartphone and tablet segments is just beginning.

The Tokyo District Court ruled that Samsung's Galaxy smartphones and tablets did not violate an Apple patent on technology that synchronizes music and videos between gadgets and servers.