Apple Seeking to Recover $15.7 Million in Legal Fees from Samsung

According to FOSS Patents, Apple is currently seeking to recover $15.7 million out of more than $60 million spent in attorneys’ fees on the first California case, from Samsung. The case involves two trials i.e the original trial in August 2012 and a retrial in November 2013, resulting in a total damages award of more than $929 million.

Apple has made a filing in the Northern District of California, arguing that Samsung’s intentional infringement of Apple’s patents makes this litigation “an exceptional case in which an award of attorneys’ fees is warranted”, even though it’s not the norm in the U.S. under current rules. The $15.7 million portion represents one third of Apple’s attorneys’ fees through March 1, 2013, the day on which Judge Lucy Koh entered a damages ruling, her last post-trial decision with respect to the first trial.

In a footnote, Apple gives examples of other intellectual property infringement cases in which similar or even far greater amounts were awarded:

“For example, a $105.7 million award in a copyright case was upheld on appeal. Mattel, Inc. v. MGA Entm’t, Inc. […] The Federal Circuit upheld an award of $16.8 million for attorney fees in a patent case. Takeda Chem. Indus. v. Mylan Labs. […]; see also Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. v. W.L. Gore & Assocs. […] (awarding $19 million in fees in patent case).”

Even though examples provided by Cupertino involve well-known companies, the disputes are much smaller in economic terms than the Apple vs Samsung case.