Court Cuts $450 million From Samsung's Infamous $1 Billion Fine
Bangalore: A federal judge on Friday had cut $450 million from the $1 billion award to be paid by Samsung in the infamous patent lawsuit from Apple, saying that the jury had wrongly calculated the damages.
US District Court Judge Lucy Koh, lowered the damages awarded to Apple by $450 million, restricting the amount to $598.9 million, in the patent infringement case, denying Apple’s request for a bigger penalty. The decision has turned out to be the latest twist in the patent case, where Apple surges against the South Korean electronics giant Samsung.
As part of the case, Apple had accused its rival of massive and willful copying of its designs and technology for Smartphones and tablets, according to AP reports.
Koh said, the jury had not followed her instructions in calculating damages for certain devices, including some models of Galaxy SII Smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet. She concluded saying that mistakes had been made in determining when Apple had first notified Samsung about the alleged violations of patents. She encouraged both parties to have the case reviewed by an appellate court before any new trial.
Thus, the ruling has reduced Samsung’s bill to under $599 million. The iPhone maker is seeking more damages and Samsung a complete dismissal of the case in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Washington, DC-based court that handles all patent appeals. The new trail to recalculate the damages might also increase the award.
Samsung, well-known to be Apple’s biggest rivals has overtaken it as the leading Smartphone maker in 2012. Both the rivals have filed similar lawsuits in eight other countries, including South Korea, Germany, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Britain, France and Australia.
