I hope Apple didn’t have plans for that $1 billion Samsung owes it for the damages it was awarded in their recent trial, because it doesn’t look like Samsung will have to pay up any time soon — if ever!
The two rivals are set to meet Dec. 6 for pre-trial motions. Then any jury award to Apple will get an automatic 14-day stay. Judge Koh could also modify the damage amount. Foss Patents also reminds us that Apple could ask for something off Samsung’s huge parts bill.
Every year Apple purchases components from Samsung that are valued “on the order of ten times the damages verdict.” The two firms could agree that Samsung will just knock the $1 billion off of Apple’s parts bill.
Even if Samsung does wind up having to pay the entire amount, it’s not likely that anyone will go hungry at Samsung. “It’s really unlikely that Samsung, which currently has tens of billions in the bank, would be unable to pay the billion-dollar amount if it ultimately had to,” writes blog author Florian Mueller.
As it stands, Samsung could go ahead and pay what it owes to Apple, put it off as long as it can, or take it out in trade with Apple. So, now that your mind is put to rest about that, you can go back to figuring out how to put new tires on your car and still pay your electric bill this month…
