US: After damages dispute, Samsung to pay Apple for patent infringement

After a month-long trial, reports say Samsung has been ordered to pay $119.6 million to rival Apple for infringing upon its smartphone patents.

According to reports, the damages were decided by a jury Friday, but Apple argued that a technical error had been made, though reports did not indicate what Apple claimed that error was.

The judge had ordered the jury to resolve the matter on Monday, but reports say the $119.6 million figure remained unchanged.

Despite this case’s resolution, Apple and Samsung have been feuding for years across the globe over allegations they are infringing on each others’ patents. Apple was awarded $930 million in a similar dispute in 2012, but Apple failed in efforts to obtain a permanent patent injunction against Samsung smartphone sales, reports say.

The most recently-resolved case involved five disputed patents that were not covered by the 2012 case.

Further, the companies’ dispute is far from over. Apple is now seeking sales bans on smartphones made by the South Korean firm. US District Judge Lucy Koh will now need to rule on that request.

But Samsung is hitting back against Apple, too. While Samsung was not awarded the $6 million it sought for patent infringement in the 2012 case, the jury did order Apple to pay $158.4 thousand.

The companies have been criticized across the globe for the lawsuits on grounds they are pity disputes that should be resolved out of court. One juror in the most recent case echoed such sentiment following the case’s conclusion.

In Vanify Fair’s latest edition, the magazine chronicles Samsung’s alleged patent infringement abuses, among other anticompetitive behavior, including price-fixing.

In the publication’s in-depth, scathing report, Samsung is said to frequently ignore rivals’ patents and to have blatantly copied Apple’s iPhone design.

But, as the magazine explores, Samsung’s growing market share in the US may pull the company into victory in the patent war with Apple.

Full content: Reuters

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.