Apple vs. Samsung: Big Victory For Apple in Infringement Case
Apple has won another bout against Samsung Electronics, gaining a verdict from a northern California jury to the tune of $290 million more damages to be paid to Apple Inc. for patent infringement by its South Korean competitor.
This is just the latest development in a long-running legal battle between the two device-making giants, and a clear win for Apple, which brings to total damages levied against Samsung to $930 million.
This particular verdict was over 13 previous devices manufactured by Samsung that an earlier jury found to be infringing up to 26 of Apple's patents. The earlier jury also found its judgment against Samsung, but awarded Apple almost $1.05 billion in damages. But the U.S. District Judge for that case, Lucy Koh, found that the jury had miscalculated the amount owed by Samsung, reducing the figure to $640 million and ordering a new trial, according to the AP.
That second trial was basically over how much Samsung would pay Apple for its 13 patent-infringing devices. Apple wanted $380 million more than the $640 million awarded, while Samsung only believed it owed $52 million more for certain Apple-specific features it included in its 13 old devices such as the iPhone's "pinch to zoom" feature and double-tap zoom.
"For Apple, this case has always been about more than patents and money," said Apple's spokesperson Kristen Huguet in a statement. "While it's impossible to put a price tag on those values, we are grateful to the jury for showing Samsung that copying has a cost."
The jury found that some features of the iPhone, like the rounded corners, and apps arranged in a grid on the homescreen were also patents infringed by Samsung. Samsung has said it will appeal both trials' verdicts, and a lawyer for Samsung questioned the full extent two which the company has been found liable for patent infringement. "Apple doesn't own beautiful and sexy," said Samsung's lawyer William Price in his argument to the jury.
The latest patent case is among many that Apple and Samsung have been fighting in various courtrooms throughout man different countries. The past two trials have dragged on, with various small victories handed down to both sides. For another example, yet another trial is scheduled in March of next year to deliberate on the claims from Apple against Samsung's Galaxy S3 smartphone, which the Cupertino company says also infringes on its patents.
Other battles have occurred in other venues as well, with different outcomes: in the summer, the U.S. International Trade Commission found that both Apple and Samsung had infringed on the patents of the other, resulting in a ban on products of both companies, though only Samsung's products ended up being banned after the U.S. Administration vetoed the ban on Apple's products. And according to the New Yorker, Friday's verdict wasn't even the only one handed down on that day, as a German court also invalidated a Samsung patent in its own Apple versus Samsung patent trial.