Samsung Wins Vs. Apple Over $400M Design Patent Battle; Legal Battle Over?
Samsung most likely does not owe Apple $400 million for 'copying' the iPhone's design and features. This is what the Supreme Court said on its ruling over the patent battle on Tuesday. This settles the issue of alleged patent infringement.
According to USA Today, the SC has reversed the decision from a lower court forcing Samsung to pay Apple $399 million. The said amount is for Samsung's violation against three patent designs from Apple's iPhone, including the smartphone's shape and icons.
The said court ruling orders the appeals court to investigate if Samsung has only copied components of the iPhone, and not literally the whole concept and idea of the Apple iPhone. The news site reports that Samsung faced almost $1 billion worth of penalties for copying the iPhone's design and icons, which was then reduced to $548 million.
Back in 2012, a federal Jury in San Jose claims that Samsung has copied some of the Apple iPhones features and design which was patented by the company. These features include the iPhone's round, smooth corners, body shape, and the icon's appearance. However, the LA Times reports that it is still not proven how much these design and features from Apple affected the consumer's decision on buying a new smartphone.
In the late 2000's, the news site added, Samsung's sales went ahead some competitors when it introduced its Samsung Galaxy smartphones. The smartphone units, based on the report, looked more like it was copied from the Apple's iPhone design.
Another report states that Google, Facebook, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise appealed to the SC, insisting that Samsung losing over patent battle with Apple may lead to unreasonable results and may also affect other huge companies alike, posing a question on how patents are applied to technology products, according to The Mercury News.
The report also revealed that the Samsung 's battle over Apple's patent on iPhone design was the SC's first court ruling for a design patent in over 30 years, concerning carpet designs.
