A nearly five-year-old design patent trial between Apple and Samsung has reached a new level, as the U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear Samsung's appeal of a lower court decision that ordered the South Korean electronics maker to pay a $548 million settlement to its Cupertino-based rival in December.
According to Reuters, Samsung plans to appeal what it believes are "excessive penalties" for allegedly "copying the patented designs of the iPhone," including the smartphone's rounded rectangular bezel and colorful grid of icons. The 2011 lawsuit targeted select Galaxy-branded smartphones and tablets.
Samsung has already paid the $548 million settlement to Apple, but it can obtain reimbursement if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses or modifies the original judgment. Apple had urged the high court to deny the appeal, accusing Samsung of raising issues that do not "deserve review" in an effort to prolong court proceedings.
The appeal will likely delay a damages retrial that was scheduled to begin later this month in the Northern District of California, according to FOSS Patents.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Wouldn't blame them.
This comment you post is really stupid,Samsung is a copy cat we all know .If you steal people's ideas that's what happens .They deserve to pay more then that amountOf all the court cases they fought the only time Apple won was in the US (what's Apple's home territory again?).
And they needed the help of the president to get that done.
I feel for Samsung. Quite an injustice.
This was an unexpected development. I figured the Supreme Court had something better to do than this.
The fact that they are seeing the case means they may think the law is being interrupted wrong or think they should make new law. The fact that they will hear case, means that there is a need for more clarity.Again?
not sure about the first case which is now going to get heard by the SCOTUS, but Apple lost the second case completely and will have to pay Samsung lawyer's bills. Apple shouldn't have started a case they couldn't win, especially when it was fairly obvious Apple's patents were weak.Haven't they spent more than $548 million on the lawyers in the meantime?
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Dear Samsung:
in case you haven't been keeping up with the trials, Apple lost ALL patents claims against Samsung in Germany. Apple was ordered to publicly apologize to Samsung and pay for Samsung lawyer's expenses after Apple defied the court order. Apple lost the second case they started and now has to pay for Samsung's legal fee.Give it up already. You lost.
:rolleyes:
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Wouldn't blame them.
Well, there were two separate cases in the US. Samsung won the USITC case, but Obama reversed that ruling that would have banned Apple iPhones in the US.Of all the court cases they fought the only time Apple won was in the US (what's Apple's home territory again?).
And they needed the help of the president to get that done.
I feel for Samsung. Quite an injustice.
Apple won the highly publicized district case, but the appeals court reversed "trade dress" part of the win. The design part of the victory is now going to be heard by the SCOTUS.
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This was an unexpected development. I figured the Supreme Court had something better to do than this.
why unexpected? The SCOTUS hears patents cases all the time or at least they hear more patent cases every year.[doublepost=1458598462][/doublepost]
This is ridiculous. You'd think Samsung would stop copying though if they didn't want to pay out but looking at their most recent offerings, they keep on with their blatant plagiarism, albeit in a cheap way.
Sure, Samsung copies (or inspired by) Apple, but Samsung is no more legally liable than Apple being liable for copying Xerox's ideas (or Samsung's).[doublepost=1458598739][/doublepost]
We may all think so, but the Supreme Court will probably rule in favor of Samsung. To the US justice system, Apple is like a rotten Apple.
What's at issue here is Apple's use of an esoteric design patent law never applied to design cases involving multicomponent devices . There are at least 30+ law school professors and many US tech/non-tech companies who are very interested in the outcome of the case and don't want Apple's victory to stand.This comment you post is really stupid,Samsung is a copy cat we all know .If you steal people's ideas that's what happens .They deserve to pay more then that amount
No surprise only the US & it's citizens think so. Not a single judge in Europe concluded that.You're ironically calling me out on intelligence based on hurt fanboy feelings alone.
Apparently you're smarter than everybody knowledgable on International Intellectual Properly laws and treaties.
Do explain why not a single non-american judge has come to the same conclusion you have oh intelligent one?
You can't have a monopoly on squares and icons. Who's the copy cat by the way? Everybody steals from everybody.
Apple's 'slide-to-unlock' pattern was blown away by European Judges. As well as it's patents on tablet and icon shapes.
This whole court battle is just smoke and mirrors. Designed to smeer Samsung's reputation.