Samsung to Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court in Ongoing Patent Battle With Apple

[MacRumors]

Samsung is planning to take its ongoing patent war with Apple to the United States Surpreme Court, reports the San Jose Mercury News. In court papers filed today, Samsung said that by November it would ask the Supreme Court to hear its latest appeal.

"The questions present issues of enormous importance to patent litigation and the scope of innovation, especially in high-technology industries," Samsung's legal team wrote in a bid to hold off paying Apple hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for the patent violations.

Samsung's decision comes following a rejection from the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals last week, where the court refused Samsung's request for a new trial. Samsung had asked the court to reconsider a decision earlier this year that left the company on the hook for a $548 million payout to Apple.

Samsung and Apple have been battling over patent infringement issues since 2012, when a jury ruled Samsung willfully violated several Apple patents, resulting in $1 billion in damages. Since then, Samsung has been fighting the ruling, and over the course of several appeals and a partial retrial, has gotten the damages reduced to the aforementioned $548 million total. If Samsung is successful, the Supreme Court could throw out another $400 million in damages.

Earlier this week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office invalidated a key iPhone design patent that was used in the Apple v. Samsung lawsuit, handing down a non-final rejection that Samsung could use in its appeal to the Supreme Court. Samsung also has the backing of technology companies like Facebook, Google, eBay, HP, and Dell, who have claimed the ruling against Samsung would "lead to absurd results and have a devastating impact on companies."

Samsung may, however, have difficulty getting the Supreme Court to hear its case. Of the thousands of cases that the Supreme Court is asked to review each year, it agrees to hear approximately 100 to 150.

Article Link: Samsung to Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court in Ongoing Patent Battle With Apple

 

[farewelwilliams]

lawyer fees probably cost a billion dollars now.

 

[AngerDanger]

I sort of just wish they'd kiss and get all of this romantic tension out of the way.

And a few passion-filled months later, the sPhone 6S Edge was born unto the world.

 

[Mlrollin91]

No way the Supreme Court is going to hear this. They review 100-150 cases a year and only rule on 60-70 cases a year. This is not a SCOTUS issue. Samsung should just quit before it costs them more than the fine.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Buddy bought an S5 recently and the water resistant trapdoor on the bottom of the charging port fell off after two days of use. I asked him did he get it fixed, he said no, they wouldn't fix it. He said they said it was a cosmetic issue, and they were not responsible. Junk company.

 

[IBoB1973]

i wish this would just get over and be done !

 

[Rocketman]

This is a waste of lawyer time and I suspect Samsung will exploit a statute each parties costs are borne on their own, when in this case they should be issued sanctions for lost interest and lawyer fees. That doesn't happen in our system. Unless the supreme court wants to set a precedent!

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

$1B -> $548M -> $148M?

I'd make that bet.

 

[Daalseth]

Anything to drag this out. In another year when they've exhausted the SC avenue and the judgement stands they will find some other idea for appeal. In another three to five years when all of those are exhausted they will then drag out actually paying for a decade or more.

That's Samsung's business model: Steal litigate, drag it out, repeat.

 

[DTphonehome]

Not a chance that SCOTUS will hear this case.

 

[TheRainKing]

They should have been forced to pay the $1 billion

 

[Benjamin Frost]

Buddy bought an S5 recently and the water resistant trapdoor on the bottom of the charging port fell off after two days of use. I asked him did he get it fixed, he said no, they wouldn't fix it. He said they said it was a cosmetic issue, and they were not responsible. Junk company.

I wasn't aware that the 5S was water resistant.

 

[apolloa]

Well considering the main patent that the huge fine was based on has now been classed as void by the US Patent Office:

https://www.macrumors.com/2015/08/17/uspto-invalidates-patent/

Because Apple messed up, or tried it on, and they have void it on technicality, then Apple should be paying Samsung and the American Tax payer for money wasted just to gain market share. So I would fully expect the courts to accept this appeal and cancel the fines.

Perhaps Apple can go running to Obama crying again and have him overturn US court decisions for them again?

http://news.sky.com/story/1124254/apple-ban-overturned-by-obama-administration

queue endless post on how nasty Samsung are and how they endlessly copy Apple, meanwhile conveniently ignoring Apple apparently claims to have invented rectangles with rounded corners and had its front iPhone facia patent void by the US patent office....

 

[MH01]

Call in Taylor swift! And make a sub forum where this news can go ....

 

[MH01]

I wasn't aware that the 5S was water resistant.

Samsung s5, not apple 5s.

S5 is water resistant

 

[sss4r]

Give it up, Samsung. You gambled and lost. You obviously copied Apple. Don't waste the Highest Court's time, We the People have more important matters to contend with than rich corporations throwing a hissy fit over paying a fine they know they deserve.

 

[jayducharme]

the ruling against Samsung would "lead to absurd results and have a devastating impact on companies."

Translation: if Apple wins, it won't be as easy for other companies to blatantly copy Apple anymore.

At this point, the only real end to this would be for Apple to buy Samsung outright.

 

[MH01]

They should have been forced to pay the $1 billion

blame your legal system. Seems like it's purpose is to make lawyers Rich....

 

[cmwade77]

Umm, considering that one of the patents that Apple says was violated was that the device is rectangular with rounded corners, I would say that this is exactly the type of case the Supreme Court should be hearing.

Then they can finally rule that the idea of patenting a rectangular device with rounded corners is not legal.

I am not saying that Samsung is totally innocent, but I am pointing out the absurdity of the current patent system and it really has gotten so far away from it's original intent, it's absurd. By the way, the original intent was to allow companies to make back their costs a nice profit, then spur innovation by allowing others to build on that patent. It was not intended to prevent companies from using something as a starting point forever like it is being applied now.

 

[MH01]

Give it up, Samsung. You gambled and lost. You obviously copied Apple. Don't waste the Highest Court's time, We the People have more important matters to contend with than rich corporations throwing a hissy fit over paying a fine they know they deserve.

Umm this is actually working in samsungs favor at this point. Read the article and the links

 

[Glideslope]

No way the Supreme Court is going to hear this. They review 100-150 cases a year and only rule on 60-70 cases a year. This is not a SCOTUS issue. Samsung should just quit before it costs them more than the fine.

They can't quit. It's Cultural.

 

[apolloa]

Umm, considering that one of the patents that Apple says was violated was that the device is rectangular with rounded corners, I would say that this is exactly the type of case the Supreme Court should be hearing.

Then they can finally rule that the idea of patenting a rectangular device with rounded corners is not legal.

I am not saying that Samsung is totally innocent, but I am pointing out the absurdity of the current patent system and it really has gotten so far away from it's original intent, it's absurd. By the way, the original intent was to allow companies to make back their costs a nice profit, then spur innovation by allowing others to build on that patent. It was not intended to prevent companies from using something as a starting point forever like it is being applied now.

Yeah but when it comes to having a go at Samsung for copying all logic and reason goes riiigghhhtttt out of the window..

Apple use the patent system purely to gain market share, people can't see that though. Having a competitor's product off the shelfs is fantastic for your directly competing products sales after all.

 

[samcraig]

Buddy bought an S5 recently and the water resistant trapdoor on the bottom of the charging port fell off after two days of use. I asked him did he get it fixed, he said no, they wouldn't fix it. He said they said it was a cosmetic issue, and they were not responsible. Junk company.

Anecdotal evidence doesn't equate to a junk company. I have some friends that had issues and had no problem returning their devices.

They should have been forced to pay the $1 billion

Why? They weren't found liable for the full 1 billion. And any/every company should fight if they believe they are in the right. Apple sure does.

Give it up, Samsung. You gambled and lost. You obviously copied Apple. Don't waste the Highest Court's time, We the People have more important matters to contend with than rich corporations throwing a hissy fit over paying a fine they know they deserve.

Samsung is doing nothing less than Apple did with the collusion case. They are taking it as far as they possibly can. Nothing wrong with that. Were you outraged at Apple for wasting court time?

 

[B4U]

Just pay up already, samedung...

 

[Rocketman]

That's Samsung's business model: Steal litigate, drag it out, repeat.

Even if they somehow prevail at SCOTUS, I agree with this statement.