Apple and Samsung are two fierce rivals in the world of mobile technology.
As a result, the two are never short of rows and they are always in courts settling different matters regarding their respective smartphone technologies.
This time around, the two have been in court over patent violation – a case that Apple demanded Samsung to part with up to $399 million due to copying the design of iPhones. In the ruling, Justice Sonia Sotomayor held that Apple had no right to demand that Samsung hands over all the profits generated from the copied iPhone designs, especially since the stolen designs did not cover the entire products but only a few components. According to Samsung, the copied design elements had a marginal role towards a complex product that also comes with thousands of other patents.
The case was sent back to the Court of Appeals where it is to be determined how much exactly will Samsung have to pay, but still, Apple is hopeful that the final verdict will send a strong message that stealing has no place in this world. Nonetheless, Samsung sees this as a huge victory that protects the innovative minds of this world that are simply competing fairly in the tough smartphone marketplace.
As noted earlier, this is not the first time that Apple and Samsung are in court over copyright matters. Back in 2012, Samsung was about to part with almost $1 billion for what Cupertino said was copying the appearance of the iPhone in making some Samsung Galaxy phones and other devices. However, the penalty was later reduced by $382 million. As a result, Samsung paid Apple a massive $548 million a year ago, but still, the South Korean company was not happy with the deal. The tech giant took the matter to the Supreme Court, arguing that paying $399 million of that penalty was not worth it.
The ruling has presumably put an end to one of the fiercest battles in the tech industry – a battle that begun in 2011 when Apple went to court over trademark infringement by Samsung.
This is the first time the U.S. Supreme Court has heard such a case (design patent) in over 120 years.