After 7 years of Patent Battle, Apple and Samsung call it truce, settle for an undisclosed amount

June 28, 2018:

On Tuesday, Apple and Samsung have ended a 7 year long patent battle over copied iPhone design with an undisclosed settlement, according to a US Court Filing.

World’s two biggest smartphone makers reached a truce in their 7 year-old Court battle a month after a Federal Court jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple some $539 million for Copying patented iPhone features.

Award was seen as a victory for Apple, which had argued in Court that design was essential to the iPhone.

Financial terms of settlement were not revealed and neither company elaborated on Brief Court order which dismissed the litigation dating back to 2011.

US District Judge Lucy Koh stated that,“Whereas Court has been advised by the parties that the above-entitled action has been settled, all remaining claims and counterclaims in this case are hereby dismissed with prejudice”.

Apple’s Lawsuit claimed Samsung, now World’s biggest handset maker, copied the design and other features of the iPhone as the smartphone market was exploding.

The dispute was keenly watched as a Precedent for whether design is so important that it could actually be considered “Article of design” even in a product as complex as a smartphone.

Case had been sent back to the district court following a Supreme Court decision to revisit an earlier $400 million damage award.

The Question before Jury was to determine Whether design features at issue in the case are worth all the profit made from Samsung Smartphones that copied them or Whether those features are worth just a fraction because they are components.

Three design patents in the case apply to shape of the iPhone’s black screen with rounded edges and a bezel, and the rows of colorful icons displayed. Two utility patents also involved apply to “bounce-back” and “tap-to-zoom” functions.

Original Trial finding that Samsung violated Apple patents preceded a lengthy appellate dueling over whether design features such as rounded edges are worth all the money made from a phone.

Retrial regarding damages was one element of a $548 million penalty knocked down from an original $1 billion jury award, Samsung was ordered to pay for copying iPhone Patents.

Source Hindustan Times