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Jury orders Samsung to pay 539m dollars to Apple in patent dispute

The legal battle began in 2011.

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Apple said it was pleased with the outcome

A US jury has decided Samsung must pay Apple 539 million US dollars (£403 million) in damages in the latest twist of a legal battle that began in 2011.

Apple contends Samsung would not have emerged as the world’s leading seller of smartphones if it had not ripped off the technology powering the pioneering iPhone in developing a line of similar devices running on Google’s Android software.

Previous rulings had already determined that Samsung infringed on some of Apple’s patents, but the amount of damages owed has been hanging in legal limbo.

Another jury convened for a 2012 trial had determined Samsung should pay Apple 1.05 billion dollars, but US District Judge Lucy Koh reduced that amount to 548 million dollars (£409 million).

The issue escalated to the US Supreme Court, which determined in 2016 that a lower court needed to re-examine 399 million dollars (£298 million) of the 548 million dollars.

That ruling was based on the concept that the damages should not be based on all the profits that the South Korean electronics giant rung up from products that copied the iPhone because its infringement may only have violated a few patents.

The revised damages figure was not as much as Apple had sought (PA)
The revised damages figure was not as much as Apple had sought (PA)

The revised damages figure represents a victory for Apple, even though it is not as much as the Cupertino, California, company had sought.

“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 a statement.

“We will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity and fair competition for all companies and consumers.”

An eight-person jury came up with the new amount following a one-week trial and four days of deliberation in a San Jose, California, federal courthouse.

Apple expressed gratitude to the jury for agreeing “that Samsung should pay for copying our products”.

“This case has always been about more than money,” a company statement said.

“Apple ignited the smartphone revolution with iPhone and it is a fact that Samsung blatantly copied our design.”

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