Apple vs. Samsung: Judge Cuts $450 M from $1.05 B Verdict

Judge Lucy Koh struck down roughly $450 million from the $1.05 billion damages awarded by a jury back in August 2012 in a patent infringement case against Samsung, and also ordered a new trial for some Samsung products.


Florian Müller of Foss Patents has posted a lengthy article detailing the judge’s decision background. According to his post, the $450 million corresponds to 14 Samsung products, which will be the subject of the second trial. Müller explains, “The court cannot make the adjustment it deems necessary for legal reasons: the jury set only one damages figure per product, but half a dozen different intellectual property rights were found infringed, resulting in a lack of clarity as to what portion of a per-product damages figure is attributable to a given intellectual property right.”

Koh also rejected Apple’s request to increase the damages award, saying the $1.05 billion Samsung owed to the company was the subject of heavy dispute, and “the jury wasn’t bound to accept either side’s damages dispute”, Bloomberg informs.

“It is not the proper role of the court to second-guess the jury’s factual determination as to the proper amount of compensation,” Koh said in her ruling.

The judge also encouraged both companies to pursue an appeals court review of today’s order before submitting the second trial filing.

As a result, Apple is entitled to nearly $600 million for the part of the jury’s damages award that stands, with “prejudgement interest at the 52-week treasury bill rate, and supplemental damages for the period between the verdict and the final judgment based on actual sales figures,” Müller concludes.