The legal battle between Apple and Samsung has been going on since 2011, and with this recent court ruling, it seems like it won’t be over anytime soon. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reaffirmed that Samsung did indeed copy specific design patents of the iPhone. However, the court also determined that Samsung did not infringe on Apple’s trade dress, that is, the overall look and feel of the device. With that, Apple’s US$930 million (about RM3.3 billion) win over Samsung will be reduced.
In light of this ruling, the lower courts will have to recalculate the amount of damages that will be awarded to Apple. Although this means the company will be getting less money, it still remains positive:
We are pleased the Federal Circuit Court of Appeal confirmed Samsung blatantly copied Apple products … this is a victory for design and those who respect it.
The Apple spokesperson continued on to say that “even though Samsung must pay for its widespread infringement of our patents, this case has always been about more than money. It’s about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love, which is hard to put a price on.” If this is the case, the lower reward money shouldn’t matter much to the company.
Of course, Samsung had something to say about the ruling as well:
We welcome the US Court of Appeals’ ruling overturning Apple’s infringement and damage claims against Samsung over trade dress … today’s decision shows that Apple’s claims over trade dress and damages lack merit and are grossly exaggerated. We remain confident that our products do not infringe on Apple’s design patents and other intellectual property, and we will continue to take all appropriate measures to protect our products.
Over the past four years, Apple’s original US$1 billion (about RM3.6 billion) win over Samsung has been reduced, but Samsung did lose yet another patent case in 2014, which required the Korean giant to pay US$119 million (about RM428 million) to Apple. In any case, it’ll be interesting to see how much Samsung has to pay Apple once the amount of damages have been recalculated.
(Source: The Verge)
