Apple has won a $539 million case against Samsung Electronics in relation to copying features of Apple's original iPhone.
The verdict was given by a US court against the South Korea's company which will have to pay the amount in damages to Apple.
This ruling by the court is the latest in a legal battle that has been ongoing between the two biggest smartphone makers of the world for a very long time.
Samsung was accused of infringing on some of its patents by Apple way back in 2011.
A court had granted Apple the case and asked Samsung to pay up $1.05 billion in fines a year later but the two companies have been fighting out the amount of damages in the court since.
Infringement of three Apple design patents formed the primary part of the damages payment at $533.3 million according to the latest court ruling. The rest of the amount was accorded to the infringement of two patented functions.
It was pleased that the members of the jury "agree that Samsung should pay for copying our products" said Apple in a statement.
"This case has always been about more than money," the tech giant said, adding that it was important that it continued to protect the "hard work and innovation of so many people at Apple".
But Samsung said the decision "flies in the face" of the unanimous Supreme Court ruling in its favour on the way the design patent damages are calculated.
According to the argument put forward by Samsung, the amount in damages should only have bene related to that part of the profits that the company had made with the help of the components or features covered by the patents and claimed that damages should only be about $28 million.
On the other hand, the argument placed by Apple was based on the profits made from an entire iPhone. And hence it argued for a much bigger figure.
"It is not a clear win for either firm because Apple had asked for $2.5bn in damages in its original claim", according to Kiranjeet Kaur, tech analyst at research firm IDC in Singapore.
The chances of Samsung making another appeal "cannot be eliminated", Kaur added.
"It is clearly not the verdict Samsung wanted or expected, and apart from the damages it has to pay, it points out that indeed designs were copied," she said.
She added that the court verdict should act as a guidance and warning for other smaller companies to be "more wary of overstepping [patents], especially in markets like the US".
(Source:www.bbc.com)
The verdict was given by a US court against the South Korea's company which will have to pay the amount in damages to Apple.
This ruling by the court is the latest in a legal battle that has been ongoing between the two biggest smartphone makers of the world for a very long time.
Samsung was accused of infringing on some of its patents by Apple way back in 2011.
A court had granted Apple the case and asked Samsung to pay up $1.05 billion in fines a year later but the two companies have been fighting out the amount of damages in the court since.
Infringement of three Apple design patents formed the primary part of the damages payment at $533.3 million according to the latest court ruling. The rest of the amount was accorded to the infringement of two patented functions.
It was pleased that the members of the jury "agree that Samsung should pay for copying our products" said Apple in a statement.
"This case has always been about more than money," the tech giant said, adding that it was important that it continued to protect the "hard work and innovation of so many people at Apple".
But Samsung said the decision "flies in the face" of the unanimous Supreme Court ruling in its favour on the way the design patent damages are calculated.
According to the argument put forward by Samsung, the amount in damages should only have bene related to that part of the profits that the company had made with the help of the components or features covered by the patents and claimed that damages should only be about $28 million.
On the other hand, the argument placed by Apple was based on the profits made from an entire iPhone. And hence it argued for a much bigger figure.
"It is not a clear win for either firm because Apple had asked for $2.5bn in damages in its original claim", according to Kiranjeet Kaur, tech analyst at research firm IDC in Singapore.
The chances of Samsung making another appeal "cannot be eliminated", Kaur added.
"It is clearly not the verdict Samsung wanted or expected, and apart from the damages it has to pay, it points out that indeed designs were copied," she said.
She added that the court verdict should act as a guidance and warning for other smaller companies to be "more wary of overstepping [patents], especially in markets like the US".
(Source:www.bbc.com)