There is a new development in the Samsung Vs. Apple court case. Last week, the U. S. Court of Appeals reinstated Apple’s legal victory over a patent-infringement lawsuit they had filed against Samsung. Both parties will now go to the Supreme Court of the United States next Tuesday to settle this matter.
Apple is suing Samsung for copying many of its first design patents, and these include quick linking technologies for mobile devices, autocorrect and even the slide-to-unlock function, now found on almost every smartphone.
‘Quick linking’ technologies have to do with the smartphone’s OS ability to perform various functions using addresses and telephone numbers provided by the user.
Apple first sued Samsung in 2012
In May 2014, the first instance of this lawsuit was settled with a verdict that required Samsung to pay Apple $120 million for using protected technology and designs without permission. Samsung then appealed this outcome, which led to their current defeat.
The original trial took place in 2012, where Apple’s allegedly copied design patents were their smartphone’s front face designs. The main Samsung products violating a patent were the Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy SII AT&T, Epic 4G, Galaxy Tab, and the Nexus S 4G, among others.
A jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion as the settlement in that particular moment, Samsung then asked the court for $421 million in the following countersuit but received no money. A new trial began in November 2013 to recalculate the sums and Samsung ended up paying $548 million to Apple in 2015.
Patent infringement Vs. ill business practices
Samsung allegedly has the support of companies like Dell, eBay, and Facebook. Apple has the support of the design world, which includes many industry professionals like Calvin Klein.
The 2014 trial initially ended up with Samsung footing the bill for infringement, but it also required Apple to pay Samsung $158,400 for the same reason. The public opinion on this matter is divided between both companies. Some are citing the unfair use of designs by Samsung while others are claiming ill competition practices by Apple.
The US Department of Justice recently stated it supported neither of the companies, but sided with Samsung regarding the verdict of the lower court, explicitly claiming a bad interpretation of the law. It noted, however, Samsung might not have presented sufficient evidence to keep them from paying reparations to Apple.
The Supreme Court hearing will begin at 10 a.m. Chosen litigators for both parties are Kathleen Sullivan (Samsung) and Seth Waxman (Apple).
Source: MacRumors