Samsung has won a possible reduction in the damages it must pay Apple for infringing patents on the iPhone’s design. The US Supreme Court ruled that a lower court should reconsider the USD 399 million award to Apple, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Jurors found in 2012 that 11 smartphone models from Samsung infringed Apple’s design patents. The US' highest court agreed to hear the case to clarify how courts should compute monetary damages for design-patent infringement. Apple argued it was entitled to the total profit on Samsung’s infringing products. Samsung countered that it shouldn’t have to hand over all of its profit on the phones because the design was only one component of those complex devices.
The Supreme Court sided with Samsung, saying that in multicomponent products, sometimes a patent holder will only be entitled to the infringer’s total profit on the specific component that infringed the patent. The court declined to rule on the specifics of the case, so a lower court will decide on the exact amount of the damages.
Samsung called the ruling a landmark decision that "is a victory for Samsung and for all those who promote creativity, innovation and fair competition in the marketplace". Apple said it remained "optimistic that the lower courts will again send a powerful signal that stealing isn’t right".
