November 01, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics claimed that it is unfair for a patent violator to hand over all profits from sales of a product using the patent design when it made only a tiny contribution to sales, at the US Supreme Court Oct. 10 in its legal battle with Apple.

Industry watchers say that the hearing will weigh in on reimbursement of nearly $400 million in damages it already paid Apple.

Samsung paid Apple US$548 million in damages awarded by a lower court for copying designs of the iPhone. In December, Samsung took the case to the highest court, asking it to reconsider the scope of design patents and how damages are calculated, in an effort to get up to $399 million reimbursed.

In March, the court agreed to hear the case, which marks the first design patents case the highest US court has taken up in 120 years. The last Supreme Court cases over design patents involved spoon handles in the 1870s and carpets in the 1890s.

The final ruling will come out in December or January 2017.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)