Apple and Samsung’s 7-year showdown over patents the latter infringed on has begun its latest chapter with a retrial taking place in a California court house. The dispute at hand concerns just how much money Samsung has to hand over to Apple.
This may sound simple enough, but it’s actually one of the most complicated legal cases to have occurred in Silicon Valley. The battle began in 2011 when Apple accused Samsung of infringing on 3 of its design patents for the front and back of the original iPhone and the graphical UI showing the layout of apps.
Apple also included 2 utility patents covering its bounce-back scrolling and pinch-to-zoom features. It won the case and was awarded $1.05 billion in 2012. However, this victory was short-lived as Samsung managed to cut the amount down through a series of retrials and appeals and paid $548 million.
Also Read: Apple’s demanding a price cut on OLED panels from Samsung
The issue at hand now deals with a $399 million portion of the damages. Samsung successfully convinced the Supreme Court that the original trial was too broad, which brings us to the new retrial. The jury now has to decide whether the South Korean company should have to pay damages on the entire iPhone or just the components it infringed on.
Apple is obviously arguing for the former, since the design and user interface of the iPhone plays an important part in why consumers bought it. Samsung is pushing for the latter, saying that customers purchased its devices for reasons other than looks, such as functionality. It shouldn’t have to pay for the other parts since Apple’s patents don’t cover the whole phone.
Samsung is asking the jury to limit damages to just $28 million, while Apple is asking for $1 billion. We’ll let you know who won when this particular saga ends, hopefully forever.