Even though Samsung has been found to be infringing three out of the five patents Apple asserted in its second U.S. trial against the Android device maker, the company only has to pay $120 million in damages, a far cry from the $2.2 billion Apple asked for. However, Samsung told Bloomberg that it will still appeal the case, looking to further reduce the amount all the way down to zero if possible.
“Of course we’re pleased that the jury awarded Apple 6 percent of what they were asking for,” Samsung attorney John Quinn told the publication. “But even that can’t stand, because Apple kept out all the real world evidence and didn’t produce anything to substitute for it, so you have a verdict that’s unsupported by evidence -– and that’s just one of its problems.”
Villanova University’s law school professor Michael Risch said that Quinn’s statement means that Samsung’s lawyer thinks “the damages analysis presented by Apple at the trial ‘was so unhinged from reality that it could not support any damages.’”
“Samsung will likely appeal,” Risch added “At this stage an appeal is cheap, even if the total can be reduced by $10-$20 million.
Bloomberg says that Apple’s $120 million win is the eighth-largest jury award in the U.S. this year, and the fourth-largest jury award in a patent case this year.
In similar fashion, Samsung appealed the verdict in the first trial between the two, and managed to reduce the damages by over one hundred million dollars. Following the appeal, Samsung has to pay Apple $930 million after the first trial, instead of $1.05 billion.
Meanwhile, Apple said about the jury’s verdict that it “reinforces what courts around the world have already found: that Samsung willfully stole our ideas and copied our products.” It’s not clear yet whether Apple will also appeal the verdict.
