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Apple Asking for $16M in Legal Fees After Samsung Patent Victory, Has Paid Lawyers More Than $60M

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,490
30,731



Following the second victory in its long-running patent lawsuit with Samsung, Apple has filed a motion asking the judge to order Samsung to pay nearly $16 million in legal fees (via Dan Levine).

Apple says that its lawsuit with Samsung is "an exceptional case" and that there was overwhelming evidence that "Samsung deliberately copied every aspect of Apple's revolutionary iPhone product". After juries awarded Apple $930 million in damages, the company argues that it "should not be forced to bear the full expense of prosecuting its claims".

In its filing, Apple says it expects to pay more than $60 million to Morrison & Foerster, its outside counsel, over the course of the case through the end of the retrial. However, that $60 million calculation, and Apple's motion request, are calculated only for "timekeepers who billed more than $100,000 for work on Apple's claims against Samsung". Further, Apple is only requesting reimbursement for one-third of its calculated billings, or $16 million.

apple_samsung_logos.jpg
By seeking only one-third of its fees from timekeepers who billed more than $100,000, Apple ensures that it is not recovering fees for its unsuccessful claims concerning the unregistered combination iPhone trade dress or for tablet design. First, the only differences between the unregistered iPhone 3G trade dress on which Apple did prevail and the combination iPhone trade dress is that the latter lacks two of the iPhone 3G trade dress elements (a metallic bezel around the flat clear surface and a row of small dots on the display screen) and also covers "neutral (black or white) borders" rather than the black borders covered by the 3G trade dress. Thus, the same work would have been required to address the iPhone 3G trade dress even if the combination trade dress had not been at issue. The only possible additional work required by having the combination trade dress in the case was whatever might have been required to address "neutral (black or white) borders" in addition to "black borders." Apple's request for only one-third of fees from timekeepers who billed more than $100,000 ensures that any such minimal fees are not included in its request.
Click to expand...
A rumor from the beginning of 2012 suggested that Apple had spent in excess of $100 million in legal fees in its first set of claims against HTC. With Apple holding nearly $150 billion in cash, and with so much at stake, even these incredibly large billings are unlikely to slow the flurry of international patent lawsuits.

Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a lawsuit to determine what kinds of software are eligible for patent protection. Oral arguments in the case, Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank should be heard in March with a ruling expected by the end of June.

Article Link: Apple Asking for $16M in Legal Fees After Samsung Patent Victory, Has Paid Lawyers More Than $60M
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/06/apple-asking-for-16m-in-legal-fees-after-samsung-patent-victory-has-paid-lawyers-more-than-60m/
itr81

itr81

macrumors regular
Jul 12, 2010
230
52
I think you could probably retire after one apple patent case. I just need few million and I would call it a day.
 
A

AbSoluTc

Suspended
Sep 21, 2008
5,104
4,002
Sad how much money is wasted in crap like this that could go to better causes. You would think people would get that.

*sigh*. :(
 
Rocketman

Rocketman

macrumors 603
Dec 2, 2001
6,191
1,186
Claremont, The intellectual capitol of the world.
When we prevailed in Federal Court against the FEDGOV we had a similar situation. The letter of the rules about reimbursements only covers successful claims and the case was so complicated there was a range of things considered or not. An accurate accounting of what would be owed to the penny would be expensive to create, and like all other aspects of the case would be litigated to the gnats ass. That expense would not be reimbursable.

Guessing makes good sense.

The rules are written to maximize lawyer fees, not justice. But they are written perfectly for that!

Apple should make a claim for "Tier B" reimbursements the judge could shop from when crafting the order, possibly increasing the reimbursement 40% or more.

The interesting thing to me is the $100m spent by Apple alone is more than the entire enterprise value of about 80% of companies on the planet! The litigation system is broken.

Rocketman
 
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hansonjohn590

macrumors 6502
Sep 14, 2013
353
4
Seriously? You already won, no need to spit in their face.

They will probably spend more than 16 million in attorney fees just trying to get this money.

Show some class, Apple.
 
C

ChrisCW11

macrumors 65816
Jul 21, 2011
1,037
1,433
Get over it

I mean whatever, both companies have had like 5 generations of products released since this case was raised, and I hardly think Apple can claim any significant damages from Samsung.

The biggest thing that slowed down Apple iPhone sales was Apple's lack of innovation across 6 versions of iOS, but iOS 7 and iPhone 5s along with their iPad refresh and coming Mac Pro has re-invigorated consumer interest in Apple again, and they are set to have an unprecedented quarter in sales during this holiday season.

While I do believe Samsung blatantly copied iPhone, nobody on earth has either of these two products anymore, and nobody on earth will ever mistake Samsung's current phones vs Apple's current phones (largely because most people mistake Samsung phones for tablets these days).

Apple didn't have to spend a dime if they just accepted the "flattery" of Samsung copying their products and had the confidence to realize that Apple products are still more highly coveted then any other of a single company's product. If they had invested those years into innovating iPhone and iOS instead of letting the market tire of their "old" OS, they would never have seen any slow down in iPhone sales.
 
N

numlock

macrumors 68000
Mar 13, 2006
1,590
88
AppleVsAndroid said:
Losers have this exact mindset of being jealous on others success :p

No one is stopping you from being a rich bast... (I mean lawyer) :D
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dosent have to have anything to do with jealousy.

these costs are laid on all the eventual products so its subsidized by the general public


but those of that look forward to apple products will probably have to wait until the year after next since the year tim cook so often refers to is only few weeks away
 
firedept

firedept

macrumors 603
Jul 8, 2011
6,277
1,130
Somewhere!
Sure do not know if you want to be an Apple lawyer or not. Money would be okay, but would the work not become boring eventually.
 
H

Heltik

macrumors 6502
Jul 16, 2002
254
51
USA
Microsoft built the world's largest software company largely on the back of copying Apple. Of course they're not doing well now, but where would Apple have been now had that not occurred?

ChrisCW11 said:
I mean whatever, both companies have had like 5 generations of products released since this case was raised, and I hardly think Apple can claim any significant damages from Samsung.

The biggest thing that slowed down Apple iPhone sales was Apple's lack of innovation across 6 versions of iOS, but iOS 7 and iPhone 5s along with their iPad refresh and coming Mac Pro has re-invigorated consumer interest in Apple again, and they are set to have an unprecedented quarter in sales during this holiday season.

While I do believe Samsung blatantly copied iPhone, nobody on earth has either of these two products anymore, and nobody on earth will ever mistake Samsung's current phones vs Apple's current phones (largely because most people mistake Samsung phones for tablets these days).

Apple didn't have to spend a dime if they just accepted the "flattery" of Samsung copying their products and had the confidence to realize that Apple products are still more highly coveted then any other of a single company's product. If they had invested those years into innovating iPhone and iOS instead of letting the market tire of their "old" OS, they would never have seen any slow down in iPhone sales.
Click to expand...
 
H

hansonjohn590

macrumors 6502
Sep 14, 2013
353
4
Heltik said:
Microsoft built the world's largest software company largely on the back of copying Apple. Of course they're not doing well now, but where would Apple have been now had that not occurred?
Click to expand...

Which alternate reality are you speaking of and how do I get there?
 
W

wigby

macrumors 68030
Jun 7, 2007
2,749
2,712
ChrisCW11 said:
Apple didn't have to spend a dime if they just accepted the "flattery" of Samsung copying their products and had the confidence to realize that Apple products are still more highly coveted then any other of a single company's product. If they had invested those years into innovating iPhone and iOS instead of letting the market tire of their "old" OS, they would never have seen any slow down in iPhone sales.
Click to expand...

There was no slowdown in iPhone sales. They have only grown but Android (Samsung) sales have grown faster and that is because they leapfrogged all of those weak generations by ripping off Apple. It's not as if Apple stopped all innovation and design because they were tied up in courts. You would be surprised at how many simultaneous things can be accomplished by a company packed with inventive and bright people.
 
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