Jury Finds Both Apple and Samsung Guilty of Patent Infringement, Samsung to Pay $119.6 Million, Apple to Pay $158,400

After three days of deliberations and several weeks of testimony, the jury reached a unanimous verdict in the second Apple vs. Samsung trial (via CNET). The jury found that Samsung willfully infringed on three of the five patents involved in the lawsuit, ordering the South Korean company to pay $119.6 million, far from the $2 billion total Apple was hoping for.

All of Samsung's devices were found to have infringed on the '647 data syncing patent, while some were found to have infringed on '721, slide-to-unlock. Samsung was not found to have infringed on '959, universal search, or on '414, background syncing. Judge Koh had also previously ruled that Samsung had infringed on Apple's '172 autocomplete patent.

As for Samsung's claims against Apple, Apple was found guilty of violating the company's '449 patent related to an "Apparatus for recording and reproducing digital image and speech", and was ordered to pay Samsung $158,400.

In this second lawsuit, which began on March 31, Apple argued that Samsung owed it $2.2 billion in damages for infringing on five separate iPhone patents. Samsung argued that Apple had infringed on two of its own patents, asking for $6.2 million in damages.

apple_samsung_logos
Over the course of the trial, Apple called in numerous experts to argue why it was owed $2 billion, chalking the total up to lost profits and reasonable royalty estimates. Samsung argued that Apple's $2 billion request was ludicrous, insisting it should owe only $40 million, or $1.75 per device.

While Samsung focused on proving that Apple was actually targeting Android in its suit, calling multiple Google witnesses like former Android chief Andy Rubin, Apple presented the jury with testimony from its own employees on the design, development, and marketing of the original iPhone.

During the trial, news broke that Google agreed to cover lawyer fees and potential damage awards related to some of the patents in the lawsuit. Four of the five patents Apple has accused Samsung of infringing on are part of the Android operating system, but the two Google had agreed to help with were not the same patents Samsung was found guilty of infringing.

This damages award adds to the recalculated damages from the original Apple vs. Samsung trial, in which Samsung was ordered to pay Apple a total of approximately $890 million. This suit focused on newer devices, including the Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Tab 10.1, the iPhone 4/4s/5, the iPad 2/3/4, the iPad mini, and fourth and fifth generation iPod touch.

Update 5:50 PM PT: Apple issued the following statement to Re/code following the verdict:

"We are grateful to the jury and the court for their service," Apple told Re/code. "Today's ruling reinforces what courts around the world have already found: that Samsung willfully stole our ideas and copied our products. We are fighting to defend the hard work that goes into beloved products like the iPhone, which our employees devote their lives to designing and delivering for our customers."

Update 6:05 PM PT: Apple's lawyers claim to have identified an error, suggesting one product (the Galaxy S2) found to infringe on the '172 patent received no damages award. The jury will need to return on Monday to finalize the damages award.

Update 5/4 11:40 AM PT: After calculating damages for the missing Galaxy S2, the jury has awarded Apple an additional $4 million and adjusted the damages for some other products, keeping the overall amount that Samsung owes at the original $119.6 million.

Top Rated Comments

mejsric Avatar
125 months ago
$2B seems pretty high, but $120M is a small price to pay, considering their success. I mean when you look at the whole "smartphones before the iPhone" and "smartphones after" it's pretty obvious...

Now that being said, I'm certainly one for a complete restructure of the patent system and potentially getting rid of software patents, but considering the system we have now, this does seem a little easy... $120M is really nothing...

Its not about the money as Tim Cook said.

Knowing Samsung is convicted copycat again is a win.
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
larrylaffer Avatar
125 months ago
And in the end, $117mm is a slap on the wrist.

The only people that benefit from all this childishness are the IP attorneys.
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Yojimbo007 Avatar
125 months ago
At end jury said .. crime is good way to make money !
Copy, make billions and get a slap on you wrist.

Great message jury.

Someday soon :
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
okboy Avatar
125 months ago
Innovation on sale. Buy now pay later.

This is like driving a new car out of the lot, denying you stole it, then haggling down the price by 94%.

This tells software engineers and designers that their work just isn't worth much.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jeffreyropp Avatar
125 months ago
And Samsung would do it again

Crime is pretty cheap when you consider the resulting revenues from Samsung's strategy. Best $119.6 million they ever spent.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sshambles Avatar
125 months ago
The only Samsung product I own is a fridge.

Bet they stole the patents to make that also.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

apple card 1

Apple Ending Apple Card Partnership With Goldman Sachs

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:09 pm PST by
Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple plans to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months, and it is not yet clear if Apple has established a new partnership for the Apple Card. Apple and Goldman Sachs will dissolve their entire consumer partnership, including the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account....
iOS 17

Everything New in iOS 17.2 Beta 4

Tuesday November 28, 2023 12:18 pm PST by
Apple is wrapping up development on iOS 17.2, with the update expected to come out in December. While we're getting to the end of the beta testing period, Apple is still tweaking features and adding new functionality. We've rounded up everything new in the fourth beta of iOS 17.2. Default Notification Sound Under Sounds & Haptics, there's a new "Default Alerts" section that allows you to ...
iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.1.2 With Security Fixes

Thursday November 30, 2023 10:12 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2, small updates to the iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 operating systems that Apple introduced in September. iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2 come a few weeks after the release of iOS 17.1.1, another bug fix update. iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update....
Apple 5G Modem Feature Triad

Apple to Discontinue Custom 5G Modem Development, Claim Reports

Wednesday November 29, 2023 4:19 am PST by
Apple is discontinuing in-house modem development after several unsuccessful attempts to perfect its own custom 5G modem chip, according to unconfirmed reports coming out of Asia. According to the operator of news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Naver blog, supply chain sources related to Apple's 5G modem departments claim that the company's attempts to develop its own modem have...
All New CarPlay Five New Features Article 2

What to Expect From All-New CarPlay, Still Listed as Coming 'Late 2023'

Tuesday November 28, 2023 7:44 am PST by
At WWDC in June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more. Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared...
Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
iOS 17

28 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in December's iOS 17.2 Update

Friday December 1, 2023 2:57 am PST by
Apple made the first beta of iOS 17.2 available to developers in October. Since then we've seen three more betas, and with each iteration Apple continues to add more new features and changes, many of which users have been anticipating for quite a while. Below, we've listed 28 new things that are coming to your iPhone when the finalized version is publicly released this December. 1. Help...