Samsung agrees to pay Apple $548M in patent row
After years of trials, retrials and appeals galore, Samsung on Thursday said it has agreed to pay Apple $548 million for infringing on the Cupertino, Calif., company's patents.
In a jointly filed case management statement submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Samsung said it "has made arrangements" with Apple to complete a damages payment totaling $548,176,477. Payment will take place ten days after Apple sends an invoice, which translates to Dec. 14 if the document is delivered by Dec. 4 local Korea time.
As noted by FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, who first spotted the filing, Samsung's actions prior to Thursday's statement suggested the company would move forward with a Supreme Court appeal related to the first Apple v. Samsung judgment.
While it plans to pay up, Samsung is reserving the right to reimbursement if judgment is reversed, modified, vacated or otherwise changed in its favor. This includes, the company contends, results of any USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board actions and Supreme Court petitions. The validity of Apple's '915 patent for pinch-to-zoom functionality is currently under scrutiny by the PTAB, while Samsung in August voiced intent to argue design patent claim and construction in front of the Supreme Court.
For its part, Apple disputes Samsung's claim to reimbursement rights.
Despite appearances, the Apple v. Samsung is far from over. In September, both parties agreed to attended a settlement conference with Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero, a meeting that took place on Nov. 2. But as the document reads, "That process is complete and did not result in settlement."
Thursday's announced payout is tied to Apple's first California patent infringement suit against Samsung, which ultimately found the Korean company on the hook for $1.08 billion in damages. A subsequent partial retrial and successful CAFC appeal eroded that initial amount to $548 million.
In a jointly filed case management statement submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Samsung said it "has made arrangements" with Apple to complete a damages payment totaling $548,176,477. Payment will take place ten days after Apple sends an invoice, which translates to Dec. 14 if the document is delivered by Dec. 4 local Korea time.
As noted by FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, who first spotted the filing, Samsung's actions prior to Thursday's statement suggested the company would move forward with a Supreme Court appeal related to the first Apple v. Samsung judgment.
While it plans to pay up, Samsung is reserving the right to reimbursement if judgment is reversed, modified, vacated or otherwise changed in its favor. This includes, the company contends, results of any USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board actions and Supreme Court petitions. The validity of Apple's '915 patent for pinch-to-zoom functionality is currently under scrutiny by the PTAB, while Samsung in August voiced intent to argue design patent claim and construction in front of the Supreme Court.
For its part, Apple disputes Samsung's claim to reimbursement rights.
Despite appearances, the Apple v. Samsung is far from over. In September, both parties agreed to attended a settlement conference with Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero, a meeting that took place on Nov. 2. But as the document reads, "That process is complete and did not result in settlement."
Thursday's announced payout is tied to Apple's first California patent infringement suit against Samsung, which ultimately found the Korean company on the hook for $1.08 billion in damages. A subsequent partial retrial and successful CAFC appeal eroded that initial amount to $548 million.
Comments
Since the amount was reduced from $1.08 billion at the first judgement to $548 million after the retrial, it seems difficult to figure the amount of interest since the case was (still is?) still bouncing around the court system and patent office.
Also maybe someone can help me out with this:
Samsung is asking for money back if the patents they were found guilty of infringing are found to be invalid in the future.
Surely there must be a statute of limitations for Samsung to seek getting any money back from Apple after payment of the $548 million in the event that the patents in the judgement are found invalid in the future.
Is that statute 6 years?
Therefore for Samsung if an appeal is successful there will be no monies owed. The ironic twist is that LG and Samsung have patents prior to November 2008 and may be in a position to sue Apple.
This Korean counterfeit company needs to be exposed.
I'm gonna make it my duty to tell everyone that they're just a knockoff brand. People tend to think they're legit for some reason and yet being found on infringing patents in every segment they dabble in.