Thursday, October 10, 2024
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Samsung: $120 million fine in Apple battle changes patent law

Samsung continues to press the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Federal Circuit ruling that it must pay $120 million for infringing Apple’s smartphone patents, arguing this week the lower court’s decisions in the case dramatically change patent law and will harm innovation, reports the Law360 website.

In May Apple has defended a Federal Circuit’s decision to uphold a $120 million award against Samsung, saying the decision doesn’t stir up any issues on obviousness, infringement, etc., and asking the court to deny Samsung’s petition. Last November, the Federal Circuit issued a “quick shutdown” Monday of Samsung’s bid for a rehearing of the full court’s October decision reinstating a jury’s $120 million patent infringement verdict in favor of Apple, shrugging off Samsung’s contention the ruling had been “extraordinary.”

A California jury found in 2014 that Samsung’s smartphones infringed three Apple patents on the slide-to-unlock function, autocorrect features and “quick links” technology. The full court issued a one-sentence order just three weeks after Samsung asked it to reconsider the ruling.

In February, a U.S. appeals court on Friday overturned a $120 million jury verdict against Samsung. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., said Samsung didn’t infringe Apple’s “quick links” patent, and that two other patents covering the iPhone’s slide-to-unlock and auto-correct features were invalid. 

This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example, Apple alleges that Samsung copied the slide-to-unlock technology of its iPhone and iPad devices.

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.