Apple vs. Samsung
27 law professors in the U.S. announced that they support Samsung in the first patent infringement lawsuit between Apple and Samsung.
According to German-based blog FOSS Patents on May 31 (local time), a group of 27 law professors led by Stanford’s Mark Lemley declared that they support Samsung related to design patent issues in the first California Apple vs. Samsung litigation through an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Federal Circuit.
Three of the 27 signatories of that amicus brief — Professors Cotter, Ghosh and Strandburg — supported Apple last year connected with standard-essential patent issues in the same lawsuit. A law professor who formerly studied Art & Design was included in the group.
The amicus brief states that the idea of taking back an infringer’s entire profit for design patent infringement goes back to the 19th century. Furthermore, the law professors argued that U.S. lawmakers in 1887 had products such as carpets in mind, not smartphones.
There are a variety of functions and design patents related to the iPhone, including casing-related, icon-related, and screen layout-related patents.
If the Federal Circuit accepts professors’ opinions, the total amount that Samsung has to compensate in the first case will be much lowered.
In November of last year, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a ruling against Samsung in the first patent lawsuit, saying that Samsung infringed on Apple’s design patents, and that the Korean tech giant must pay Apple damages worth US$930 million (1 trillion won).