The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday to hear Samsung’s appeal of a $400 million judgment that Apple won in its long-running patent dispute, agreeing to consider Samsung’s argument that the penalties were excessive.
Supreme Court to Hear Samsung-Apple Patent Dispute (Updated)
The amount awarded is “draconian,” says the South Korean conglomerate.
Ina Fried
Samsung Electronics has already paid Apple $548 million as the result of the 2012 jury verdict. The South Korean conglomerate is looking to reduce the $400 million it paid for infringing on the look of the iPhone — the so-called design patent covering the smartphone’s rectangular shape and rounded corners.
Samsung argued that the design patent rule that forces companies to cough up their entire profits from infringing products is, per one Stanford Law School professor, “draconian.” In the parlance of the court filings, it’s arguing that Apple was able to collect “unjustified windfalls” — 100 percent of the profits — for cosmetics that couldn’t account for the total appeal of the infringing Samsung phones.
Google and Facebook joined Samsung in asking the high court to weigh in on the matter.
Apple already suffered a major blow in 2014 when it failed to convince a court to permanently ban the sale of Samsung phones that infringed on its patents.
Update: Samsung issued a statement, welcoming the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case. “The court’s review of this case can lead to a fair interpretation of patent law that will support creativity and reward innovation.”
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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