The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) reversed their “final” ruling from April that invalidated key claims in Apple’s rubber-banding patent. The patent, which refers to the “bounce” animation the user sees when they’ve scrolled past the end of the page, was a huge part of the case Apple won against Samsung back in August 2012.
The USPTO informed Apple that it would be issuing a reexamination certificate for the patent that confirms four key claims, including claim 19 that a jury found Samsung infringed in 2012.
In April, the USPTO had issued a “final” ruling that invalidated all but three claims in the patent. Nomenclature in the U.S. patent system is such that “final” isn’t really final, as we noted in April, but Friday’s news of a reexamination certificate is.
Apple won a $1.05 billion award from the jury in August based in part on this patent. $450 million of that award is subject to a retrial scheduled for November.
Apple made sure to file the information pertaining to the USPTO’s reexamination certificate with Judge Lucy Koh, the judge who presided over last summer’s Apple v. Samsung trial, and who is now presiding over the post-trial, and retrial, phases of the patent infringement lawsuit.
This is considered bad news for Samsung, re: the damage award that it is facing. The retrial will see a jury deciding new damages that could be less than, the same as, or yes, MORE than the original $450 million of the damages that was tossed out by Judge Koh.
