Apple has been awarded $290m in a damages retrial against Samsung, retrieving a large part if the money it was originally awarded last year. After a week-long trial, the jury deliberated for nearly two days before reaching a decision on Thursday in a San Jose, California, federal court. Apple had requested $379.8m, while Samsung argued […]
Apple has been awarded $290m in a damages retrial against Samsung, retrieving a large part if the money it was originally awarded last year.
After a week-long trial, the jury deliberated for nearly two days before reaching a decision on Thursday in a San Jose, California, federal court.
Apple had requested $379.8m, while Samsung argued that it should have to pay $52.7m.
Apple and Samsung have been fighting in the courts for over two years. Apple was awarded over $1bn last year after it convinced a jury that Samsung copied various iPhone features – like using fingers to pinch and zoom on the screen – along with design touches like the phone’s flat, black glass screen.
Apple called its marketing chief Phil Schiller to testify during the trial. Samsung did not call any senior executives, a fact hammered on by Apple attorneys during closing argument.
Juror Barry Goldman-Hall, 60, said the six-woman, two-man jury discussed the disparity.
“We felt like we had way more information from Apple and we were left wondering why we hadn’t gotten other information from Samsung,” said Goldman-Hall.
“For Apple, this case has always been about more than patents and money,” Apple said in a statement. “It has been about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love. While it’s impossible to put a price tag on those values, we are grateful to the jury for showing Samsung that copying has a cost.”
Samsung, meanwhile, said it is “disappointed by today’s decision, which is based in large part on a patent that the US Patent and Trademark Office has recently deemed invalid.”
“While we move forward with our post-trial motions and appeals, we will continue to innovate with groundbreaking technologies and great products that are loved by our many customers all around the world,” the Korean company said in a statement.
Apple originally filed suit against Samsung in April 2011, accusing the Korean company of copying the look and feel of its products. Samsung countersued two months later over patent infringement and said it was at work on touch-screen phones with giant rectangular screens and rounded corners well before Apple launched the iPhone.
The products in question include the Galaxy Prevail, Gem, Indulge, Infuse 4G, Galaxy SII AT&T, Captivate, Continuum, Droid Charge, Epic 4G, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Tab, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, and Transform.
