“After five years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday in the bitter patent dispute between the world’s two top smartphone manufacturers over the amount Samsung should pay Apple for copying the iPhone’s distinctive look,” Andrew Chung reports for Reuters. “The justices’ ruling, due by the end of June, could have a long-term impact for designers and product manufacturers going forward.”
“Samsung Electronics Co Ltd paid Apple Inc $548.2 million (£441 million) last December, fulfilling part of its liability stemming from a 2012 verdict for infringing Apple’s iPhone patents and copying its look,” Chung reports. “But Samsung will argue before the Supreme Court that it should not have had to make as much as $399 million of that payout for infringement of three patented designs on the iPhone’s rounded-corner front face, its bezel and the colourful grid of icons that represent programs and applications”
“It will be the Supreme Court’s first case involving design patents in more than 120 years, when the products at issue were carpets and rugs,” Chung reports. “Apple has said Samsung was properly penalized for ripping off its work. With the many years of fighting behind these fierce rivals, this case has become mostly about money, said Michael Risch, a professor at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. ‘The infringement has been affirmed, now it’s whether this huge judgment should be affirmed,’ he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It is not a “huge” judgement. In fact, it is a pittance compared to what was stolen from Apple by Google, Samsung, et al.
Thankfully, karma is currently at work on Samsung on recouping what the “justice system” failed to retrieve and meting out what “justice system” failed to punish. Hopefully, Google is next on karma’s docket.
Apple’s products came first, then Samsung’s:
Here’s what Google’s Android looked like before and after Apple’s iPhone:
And, here’s what cellphones looked like before and after Apple’s iPhone:
People who buy Android phones and tablets reward thieves.
SEE ALSO:
Apple wins appeal reinstating $119.6 million verdict against patent-infringer Samsung – October 7, 2016
Beleaguered Samsung struggles to put out the fires caused by their exploding phones – October 6, 2016
Dieter Rams, Norman Foster, and 100+ of the world’s top designers side with Apple in Samsung patent case – August 4, 2016
Apple to U.S. Supreme Court: Samsung stole our patents, should end its appeals and finally pay up – August 1, 2016
Obama nominates Lucy Koh for Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco – February 29, 2016
Let’s add the new google phone to the list.
Price of $@)& copy cats.
So, when is this going to be applied to the source – android – given the Pixel looks like a photocopy?
I’ve always contended that the lawsuit should have been against Google instead of Samsung in the first place!
People in the government, courts etc are wedded to google and are strong advocates as well as google shareholders. Conflicts of interest would doom any case seeking justice against google. Just look at the cases of Oracle vs Google. It is a nasty mess.