Samsung told to pay Apple extra US$290 million for copying patents
A jury has added US$290 million more to the damages Samsung Electronics owes Apple for copying vital iPhone and iPad features, bringing the total damages owed by the South Korean technology titan to US$930 million.
A jury has added US$290 million more to the damages Samsung Electronics owes Apple for copying vital iPhone and iPad features, bringing the total damages owed by the South Korean technology titan to US$930 million.
The verdict on Thursday covers 13 older Samsung devices that a previous jury found were among 26 Samsung products that infringed Apple patents.
The previous jury awarded Apple US$1.05 billion. But U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ordered the new trial and tossed out US$450 million of the damages after concluding that the jury miscalculated the amount owed.
Apple had asked for US$380 million, arguing Samsung's copying cost it a significant amount of sales. Samsung countered that it owed only US$52 million because the features at issue weren't the reasons most consumers chose to buy Samsung's devices instead of Apple's.
Samsung said it would appeal both verdicts.
"For Apple, this case has always been about more than patents and money," a spokeswoman said. "While it's impossible to put a price tag on those values, we are grateful to the jury for showing Samsung that copying has a cost."
A third trial is scheduled for March to consider Apple's claims that Samsung's newest devices such as the popular Galaxy S III also copied Apple's technology.
Apple and Samsung are the world's two biggest smartphone makers, waging a battle over the US$300 billion worldwide market. The size of the award didn't faze Wall Street or harm or help either company's financial fortunes in any significant way.
Samsung reported it had US$47 billion in cash at the end of September and earned US$247.5 billion in revenue last year. Apple has US$147 billion of cash on hand and took in US$170.9 billion in revenue last year.
"We understood that the money wasn't really an issue," said juror Barry Goldman-Hall. "This was about the integrity of the patent process."
Apple has argued that Samsung's Android-based phones copy vital iPhone features. Samsung counters with complaints that some key Apple patents are invalid and says Apple has copied Samsung's technology.
Samsung lawyer William Price argued Apple is misconstruing the scope of its patents to include things like the rectangular shape of most smartphones.
