Samsung Demands Another Retrial, Says 'No Reasonable Jury' Could Have Sided With Apple

Last month, a jury ruled that Samsung must pay Apple $539 million for violating Apple design patents as part of a legal battle that has spanned years, but the jury's ruling apparently won't be the end of the dispute between the two companies.

Samsung last week filed an appeal (via CNET) asking the U.S. District Court in San Jose to either reduce the judgment against it to $28 million or hold a new trial. Samsung filed the motion on the grounds that "no reasonable jury could have found that any of Apple's asserted design patents was applied to Samsung's entire accused smartphones."

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The jury's ruling, says Samsung, is "excessive" and the evidence "supports a verdict of no more than $28.085 million," which was the amount Samsung advocated for during the trial.

The latest Samsung v. Apple trial was held to redetermine the amount of damages Apple had to pay after Samsung appealed to the Supreme Court and said that the original damages award, set at $399 million after several appeals, was a disproportionate sum for the design violation.

During the trial, the jury was tasked with deciding whether the damages should be based on the total value of the iPhone or if Samsung's penalty should be based on just the elements of the iPhone that it copied.

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Apple argued for $1 billion in damages based on the total design of the iPhone, while Samsung argued that it should pay a far lesser amount, the aforementioned $28 million. The jury split the difference and awarded Apple $539 million, which happened to be a far larger penalty than the original $399 million damages ruling from 2015.

When the jury's ruling was announced in May, Samsung promised to appeal in a statement: "Today's decision flies in the face of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favor of Samsung on the scope of design patent damages. We will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity."

Samsung also filed a separate motion at the same time asking the court to order Apple to reimburse it for a $145 million payment that Samsung submitted for a now-invalidated multi-touch patent.

Apple has 10 days to respond to Samsung's new filing, with a hearing scheduled for July 26.

Top Rated Comments

826317 Avatar
65 months ago
Samsung, you had a 132-page PDF document specifically made to show the design team how to copy the iPhone. How could anyone side with Samsung on this?

Link to PDF for those interested: https://www.scribd.com/doc/102317767/Samsung-Relative-Evaluation-Report-on-S1-iPhone#download&from_embed
Score: 111 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cashxx Avatar
65 months ago
The judge should reverse it and make them pay the whole original amount!
Score: 67 Votes (Like | Disagree)
penajmz Avatar
65 months ago
Just pay up Sammy!! Enough!
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fairuz Avatar
65 months ago
Samsung, you had a PDF document specifically made to show the design team how to copy the iPhone. How could anyone side with Samsung on this?
This. Screw Samsung. They've been putting it off for so long that the payment hardly matters at this point. Their phones were blatant knockoffs of the iPhone from its start.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
65 months ago
Yeah, Samsung should've been given the opportunity to present a reasonable case. You know, like a trial or something…
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CanadianGuy Avatar
65 months ago
Funny how companies with lots of money can just keep rejecting verdicts until they get one they like. Small companies/individuals don't have that luxury.

Does this just go on forever, if Samsung gets what they want in the next round, does Apple then go crying for a new trial as well?
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)