Although Samsung has agreed to pay Apple a $548 million settlement the Cupertino firm won in a patent case, the South Korean electronics firm retained the right to appeal the award. It has exercised that right, filing an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court in a last ditch effort to overturn a jury’s verdict in the case.
In its appeal, which also includes a wider criticism on patent law, Samsung says the jury was not provided with enough information to understand the patents, a problem it says afflicts many design patent cases.
“Samsung is escalating this case because it believes that the way the laws were interpreted is not in line with modern times,” the company said in a statement. “If the current legal precedent stands, it could diminish innovation, stifle competition, pave the way for design patent troll litigation and negatively impact the economy and consumers.”
Samsung is expected to pay Apple the full $548 million settlement to Apple by today. However, if the Supreme Court should rule in Samsung’s favor, there is a clause in the settlement that would require Apple to pay the money back to Samsung.
A jury in 2012 ruled that Samsung had willfully violated multiple Apple patents, and awarded Apple over $1 billion in damages. Samsung has since filed a number of appeals, and won a partial retrial, reducing the damages to the current $548 million amount.
The full 200+ pages filing is available for your reading enjoyment here:
Samsung vs Apple – Samsung’s Appeal to the Supreme Court
