In August of 2012, Apple won a $1.05 billion jury award against Samsung for infringing on Apple patents. In the aftermath of the verdict, Samsung took the award through various appellate courts. Between appeals and Judge Koh, the award was reduced to $399 million. Samsung says that it should not pay that amount, which covers the use of the iPhone’s icon grid, rounded corners and bezels. In December, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled to overturn the verdict and remanded the case back to the Appeals Court. At issue was whether the “article of manufacture” that the damage award is based on refers to a complete phone, or a single component. The difference could mean millions of dollars to both firms.
Last month, the Appeals Court re-opened the case. Apple argued that the $399 million award should stand since Samsung never referred to the “article of manufacture” as being anything less than a whole phone. Samsung wanted the case sent back to lower court for a new trial on damages. This way, Samsung could argue that any damages be limited to the actual components that were infringed. The Appeals Court came in with its ruling yesterday, and decided not to award a victory to either firm. Instead, it remanded the case back to the Northern District Court of California in San Jose, and did not order a new trial on the damages. Instead, the District Court itself will decide the issue over “the article of manufacture,” and decide whether a new trial on damages is warranted.
You might recall the media attention that the case received five years ago, and even Judge Lucy Koh became a minor celebrity. Don’t expect the same minute-by-minute coverage this time around. The bad blood between Apple and Samsung five years ago was so powerful that you could almost taste it. These days, things have settled down as both sides seem to co-exist in a sluggishly growing global smartphone market.
source: Scribd via CNET
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