A U.S. federal jury has awarded Apple US$120 million in damages for Samsung’s violation of two Apple patents. That figure falls well short of the US$2.2 billion it was hoping for.
The verdict rejected many of Apple’s copying claims, and also found that it had violated a Samsung patent. SiliconValley.com legal specialist Howard Mintz notes that Apple did a lot better in its 2012 legal tussle with Samsung, when it came away with US$1 billion in damages.
The jury found that nine Samsung smartphone models infringed two iPhone technology patents. However they also found that Samsung’s Galaxy 2 tablet did not copy iPad technology and rejected two smartphone patent claims. Samsung was also found to have violated Apple’s auto-word correct patent.
In the latest verdict, Apple was required to pay Samsung US$158,000 in damages for violating Samsung’s patent rights to camera folder technology in smartphones.
In post-trial interviews the eight-member jury said they thought Apple’s claim for $2.2 billion was too high, and Samsung’s willingness to pay $38 million too low.
The verdict may prompt the two companies to try to settle their patent disagreements, Mintz says, although he notes that top executives haven’t had much luck with that so far. Mintz also believes Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is likely to seek a sales ban on the Samsung (Nasdaq: SSNNF) products found to have infringed its patents, although it failed to get such a ban after the first trial.
“This verdict is by no means the end,” Mintz writes. “The outcome is almost certain to go to a federal appeals court, which already is reviewing the first round in the rivals’ struggle for legal supremacy in smartphone technology.”