Apple Won Patent Lawsuit against Samsung Electronics in US Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States turned down an appeal by Samsung Electronics on November 6 in the patent infringement suit against Apple. Samsung Electronics has to pay Apple US$119.6 million in damages.

The patent infringement suit covers the 647 patent related to information display by link tapping, the 721 patent related to unlock by sliding, and the 172 patent related to automatic typo correction. According to the Supreme Court of the United States, Samsung Electronics infringed upon Apple’s patents in each of the cases. Immediately after the ruling, Samsung Electronics said that the decision of the court let Apple gain profits in an unfair way by using the patents and hinder innovation while allowing it to compete in the court instead of the market. 

The litigation started in April 2011. The U.S. District Court in San Jose, California ruled in favor of Apple in May 2014 and told Samsung Electronics to pay US$119.6 million in damages. In February last year, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals consisting of three judges overturned the verdict and ruled in favor of Samsung Electronics. In October last year, however, it was overturned again in the en banc rehearing by 11 judges. Samsung Electronics asked for an appeal in response in March this year.