Samsung Found Guilty in Patent Case, Ordered to Pay $119.6 million to Apple
A federal court jury in California has concluded that Samsung has violated multiple smartphone patents held by Apple. This weekend’s news arrives after several months of ongoing patent wars between Apple and Samsung, in which both smartphone manufacturers have fought for the right to use certain technologies.
Of the many patents Apple sought monetary compensation for over the length of this trial, the federal court in San Jose last Friday decided that Samsung has violated two. One of these violations was the “slide to unlock” feature Samsung included in some of its phones, which Apple claims is an idea of their own ownership.
As a result, Samsung was ordered to cut Apple a check for $119.6 million. Originally, Apple wanted $2 billion in compensation from the trial.
“Though this verdict is large by normal standards, it is hard to view this outcome as much of a victory for Apple,” said Brian Love, a Santa Clara University law professor in an interview with BBC.
“This amount is less than 10% of the amount Apple requested and probably doesn’t surpass by too much the amount Apple spent litigating this case.”
Two years ago, a different jury in a related case ordered Samsung to pay Apple a whopping $930 million after concluding that it had indeed used Apple’s technology in the development of its own. Samsung, even after this most recent verdict, continues to challenge the verdict issued this weekend.
[Source: BBC]