CALIFORNIA – A federal court in San Jose on Thursday ordered The South-Koran tech giant Samsung to pay $539 million to US-based Apple Inc. for patent infringements.
Apple had put forward allegations on its rival Korean firm for illegally copying the internal design of iPhones.
Both the tech giants have been engaged in a seven-year legal war in court.
Earlier rulings had favoured Apple, but it’s the amount that Samsung has been repeatedly contesting on.
The two tech brands have been fighting for Apples’ demand of $1 billion for compensation and Samsung’s argument for $28 million.
US tech giant claimed that Samsung has copied five iPhone patents – the rounded corners of its phones, the rim that surrounds the front face, and the grid of icons that users view and two utility patents.
According to the ruling, Samsung has been charged with violating three designs patent by Apple and Samsung still has to pay for copying two other patents.
However, by now, the Korean giant has not filed for the appeal against the court’s decision.
In a statement, Apple said it was grateful to the jury for finding “that Samsung should pay for copying our products.”
“We believe deeply in the value of design, and our teams work tirelessly to create innovative products that delight our customers. This case has always been about more than money,” the statement further added.
Samsung, however, was not happy with the verdict and said in a statement “Today’s decision flies in the face of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favour of Samsung on the scope of design patent damages,” Samsung said in its statement.”
The patent infringement episode dates back to 2011. In December 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down the near $400 million judgment that Apple had won over allegations that Samsung copied iPhone design features used in its own phones.
The 1887 patent law on which the Apple-Samsung case depends pertains to covered design patents for such items as carpets, wallpapers and oilcloths.
