It seems as though many judges on the Apple-Samsung patent cases around the world are giving the South Korean company a bit of a break right now, as the judge of the controversial American case between the pair has amended her original decision, halving the amount that Samsung are required to pay their rivals.
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The original verdict from US District Court Judge Lucy Koh ruled that Samsung were guilty of several counts of ‘patent infringement’, on a list of charges that included copying the ’rounded rectangle’ design of smartphone from Apple’s iPhone range.
The end result in August (even if other countries thought differently) was a huge one against Samsung, with an order to pay Apple $1.05b for the ‘damages’ caused.
However, the situation at least is only half as bad now, as Judge Koh lowered the sum owed by $450.5m on Friday (1 March), ruling that the jurors of the case did not correctly follow her instructions on calculating the award total.
Koh noted in her summary: “The court has identified an impermissible legal theory on which the jury based its award and cannot reasonably calculate the amount of excess while effectuating the intent of the jury.”
Samsung are currently due to pay around $599m (plus an ‘unspecified amount’ extra that was not covered during the original trial, based on sale of Samsung goods after the verdict), but claim they are not done yet in clearing their name (and retaining their bank balance), stating their intentions in a public statement after hearing the verdict: “We are pleased that the court decided to strike $450,514,650 from the jury’s award. Samsung intends to seek further review as to the remaining award.”
It appears as though the American feud between the pair is still not yet done, though, as Judge Koh also ordered there to be a new trial, based on allegations towards Samsung ‘stealing Apple ideas’ for various technology products. The South Korean company did attempt to bury the hatchet a little late last year, but it seems as though two new revelations have thrust this dispute right back into the limelight again…Image may be NSFW.
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