Summary: Samsung finally got a break in their patent battle over Apple by an appeals court overturning a previous conviction.
South Korean smartphone maker Samsung has finally achieved a win against rival Apple. A U.S. appeals court overturned a $120 million jury verdict against them regarding a patent issue.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. ruled that Samsung Electronics Co Ltd did not infringe on Apple’s “quick links” patent or two other patents that relate to iPhone’s slide-to-unlock and auto-correct features. The court did find however that Apple may have infringed on one of Samsung’s patents.
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A Samsung spokeswoman said, “Today’s decision is a win for consumer choice and puts competition back where it belongs – in the marketplace, not in the courtroom.” The two companies have been battling over patents for several years with Apple mostly succeeding. Samsung paid the company $548.2 million from another patent case that has since been appealed.
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The original verdict came in May 2014, ordering Samsung to pay $119.6 million for using Apple’s patented technology without permission. The patent over the quick links feature allows the device to recognize data on the touchscreen like a phone number and connect it to a making a phone call. It cost Samsung $99 million of the damages.
The appeals court found that Samsung did not use the same technology as this patent and that Apple’s other patents at issue should never have been given to them since their technology compared to already invented technologies were so closely related.
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Chicago patent lawyer Bradley Hulbert said the decision is “a clear signal that Apple is not invincible and that alternative operating systems are here to stay. The marketing and psychological benefits for Samsung are huge.”
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/apple-samsung-elec-appeal-idUSKCN0VZ27R
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