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Samsung Ordered To Pay Apple $290M In Patent Case

Posted by timothy on from the not-in-nickels-this-time dept.

itwbennett writes "After 3 days of deliberations, a jury has ordered Samsung to pay $290 million to Apple for infringement of several of its patents in multiple Samsung smartphones and tablets. The verdict is the second victory for Apple in its multiyear patent fight against Samsung in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Last year a jury in the same San Jose courtroom ruled Samsung should pay just over $1 billion for infringement of five Apple patents in multiple Samsung phones and tablets. But afterward, Judge Lucy Koh ordered a new trial to reconsider $450 million of the damages after finding the previous jury had applied an 'impermissible legal theory' to its calculations. Thursday's verdict is the result of that new trial."

1 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It's not about innovation by gnasher719 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    In an age where you can patent a rectangle, is it really about innovation anymore?

    Fucking idiot being modded up as insightful.

    You are an imbecile who doesn't know the difference between a utility patent and a design patent. Apple has design patents on the design of iPhone and iPad. Design patents are not about innovation. Design patents are about the design, very similar to copyright. So complaining that "rectangles are not innovative" in the context of a design patent is stupid.

    Next, you seem to think that Apple got a design patent on rectangles. No, they haven't. They have design patents on designs that involve a complete design, of which _rounded_ rectangular shape is just one component. Everyone is free to make phones or tablets with rounded corners. Everyone is free to copy any single aspect of Apple's design patents. As long as they are different from Apple's design patent in _one_ aspect. They mustn't copy _all_ parts of the design patent at the same time.

    Next, you seem to think that Apple is the only one with design patents involving rectangles with rounded corners. I'll tell you another company: Samsung. Samsung has design patents for the Galaxy S3, and guess what: It has rounded corners.