Summary: Apple’s patent-infringement ruling of $119.6 million against Samsung was reinstated by an appeals court.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stated the three-judge panel was wrong for tossing the $119.6 million verdict Apple Inc. won against Samsung Electronics Co. for patent-infringement. Apple claims Samsung used its slide-to-unlock feature for smartphones and tablets. The 8-3 ruling ordered the trial judge to reconsider the judgement and possibly increasing it based on if there was intentional infringement by Samsung.
Read Apple Samsung Battle Takes New Turn.
In less than a week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear another case Apple has against Samsung regarding if the company should pay for copying patented Apple iPhone designs. Both cases are examples of the ongoing legal battle between the largest smartphones makers in the world that started five years ago and was even been fought one four continents at one time.
Apple’s claim that Samsung infringed on their patents for the features slide-to-unlock, autocorrect, and phone number detection that can be tapped to make phone ended with a large award. A large part of the award, $98.7 million, solely covered the detection patent. The previous panel ruled the patent wasn’t infringed and that the other two patents were invalid.
See Another Key Apple Patent in the Apple Samsung War Ruled Invalid by Patent Office.
The appeals court said the panel’s decision was wrong because it relied on matters that were never raised on appeal or information that was not part of the trial record. Circuit Judge Kimberley Moore said, “The jury verdict on each issue is supported by substantial evidence in the record.”
The three judges to oppose the ruling were the three that tossed the verdict in the first place.
Do you think Apple should have sole ownership of the features? Tell us in the comments below.
To learn more about the lawsuit, read Apple and Samsung Call Ceasefire to Patent War outside US.
Photo: nation.com.pk