The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected Samsung’s latest appeal in the ongoing patent infringement case with Apple. Samsung was attempting to get the court to reconsider a part of the ruling, which accounted for $400 million of the $548 million in damages the South Korean electronics maker owes Apple.
Samsung had urged the Federal Circuit to rehear the case with its full 12-judge roster, arguing that a three-judge panel erred earlier this year when it left intact a jury’s verdict that the South Korean tech giant’s smartphones and tablets infringed on Apple’s design patents.
Samsung’s only remaining option in its attempt to overturn this verdict is to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Other tech firms, including Facebook, Google, and others, had sided with Samsung a few weeks ago, arguing any ruling that forced Samsung to turn over profits from infringing devices would stifle innovation.
In 2012, a jury ruled that Samsung had willfully infringed Apple’s patents, and awarded Apple $1 billion in damages. Later the award was reduced slightly, after a judge determined the jury had erred. Then, early in 2016, a U.S. appeals court judge reduced the award further, down to $548 million.
