Nearly six years after Apple first sued Samsung for patent infringement, the ongoing legal battle between the two tech behemoths shows no signs of slowing down. Even though all of the devices that were at issue in the original case are completely outdated, the two companies are still engaged in a bitter dispute regarding damages.
Following a recent Supreme Court ruling that wiped $399 million in damages from Samsung’s original bill to Apple, MacRumors reports that the two companies will now head down to the U.S. Court of Appeals where a more precise determination will be made as to how much money Samsung owes Apple for infringing upon the look and feel of the iPhone.
Before diving in, it’s worth noting what is and what isn’t in dispute here: That Samsung released a handful of devices that infringed upon a swath Apple patents is not open for debate, but what remains unresolved is how the damages for said infringement should be calculated. Whereas Samsung believes that Apple should only be entitled to damages based on the portions of its accused devices that actually infringe, Apple maintains that it’s entitled to all of the profits Samsung enjoyed from its infringing devices.
Previously, Apple quoted Congress while arguing that “it is the design that sells the article” and that it’s practically impossible to attribute profits to a specific portion of a device.
As it stands now, Samsung is on the hook to Apple for $149 million and it will be interesting to see the extent to which that figure increases once both sides plead their case before the U.S. Court of Appeals.
And so, the epic legal saga between Apple and Samsung continues.
