Samsung, who, following a ruling last year that the South Korean company had copied elements of the iPhone, was ordered last week to pay $290 million in damages to Apple, filed a motion to delay any payment to Apple, requesting a reevaluation of the validity of patent No. 7,844,915 covering Apple’s “pinch-to-zoom“ gestures.
Now, FOSS Patents is reporting that Samsung’s motion to stay its damages was denied last night by Judge Lucy Koh, basing her decision on three factors including the status of research, the impact of a stay on the trial and case as a whole, and whether granting a stay would unethically favor Apple.
From FOSS:
While the retrial jury, which ultimately awarded Apple $290 million in damages replacing a $410 million of the original verdict (resulting now in total damages, subject to appeal, of $929 million), was deliberating, Samsung brought an emergency motion to stay the whole case pending reexamination of Apple’s ‘915 pinch-to-zoom API patent. Its lawyers untruthfully said that Apple’s only procedural option left (in order to salvage the patent) was a notice of appeal, but Apple pointed in its response to what the actual USPTO communication said, which was the opposite, and said Samsung’s stalling strategy had “crossed the bounds of reason.”
Even though Judge Koh ruled against Samsung’s motion to stay damages, the pinch-to-zoom patent will still be reevaluated. Apple will have options to influence the reexamination, such as filing an appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or the Federal Circuit.
