Apple and Samsung have been locking horns over patent issue for a while now, with the former accusing the latter for patent infringement. In the latest development, Apple has attained little victory over Samsung, The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has decided to reconsider the $930 million won by Apple in the prior patent case.
As per the U.S. court, all this comes to a conclusion (as of now) that Samsung might have been inspired by iPhone in some or the other way, and it did violate plenty of patents, however, it did not moderate the design elements of the iPhone that are not covered under trademark law. A major finding by the jury has reversed the prior decisions and Samsung might end up paying almost $380 million less amount than the previous case.
This decision has provided Apple with an edge to go for an out of the court negotiations with Samsung. Both the companies have opted for mutual settlements in many other cases and have put an end to the battle of patents for various cases.
Earlier in this case, Samsung was told to pay Apple an amount of $930 million, but now, the court has slashed $380 million from the amount as a part of trade dress decision. In lieu of today’s decision, San Jose Court (which earlier ruled for $930 million settlement) is required to review the trade dress decision clause in the case.
It would be interesting to see how Apple and Samsung go about in this case.
