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When Apple was awarded over $1 billion in damages at the conclusion of the tech trial of the century (until the next one, at least), we knew that the ultimate price paid by Samsung would be different. Why? A few months after the jury announced its calculations, presiding judge Lucy Koh ordered a retrial regarding $450 million of the original award because the jury based that number on some faulty legal logic. In this second damages calculation proceeding, Apple has asked that the jury adjust the award to $380 million, while Samsung argued it only owes $52 million. Today, the jury has settled between those two numbers, and Samsung's revised legal tab is $290 million. That number, when combined with the $598 million not at issue in the retrial brings the total Samsung owes to $888 million.
Of course, this latest decision doesn't change anything but dollar signs -- the court's earlier finding of infringement upon Apple's patents still stands. Still, with the damages settled, the case is closer than ever to a conclusion, though the lawyers on both sides still have plenty left to do. There are still post-retrial motions and appeals to be filed, as has been the case with prior rulings made during the case. Still, at least now we know just how big a check Samsung will have to write if and when those appeals cease.
Update: We reached out to Apple about today's proceedings and a company rep offered the following response about the protection of "hard work":
For Apple, this case has always been about more than patents and money. It has been about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love. While it's impossible to put a price tag on those values, we are grateful to the jury for showing Samsung that copying has a cost.
We're no fans of patent litigation, and we imagine German iPhone users weren't thrilled when Motorola shut down iOS push email in the nation. After numerous pieces of paperwork (and a $135 million bond) was put on the table, an interim decision has allowed Apple to offer the service while the issue is resolved in court. All Teutonic users need to do is activate "Fetch New Data" from the "Mail, Contacts and Calendars" settings pane and, when all of this is settled, hope that messy patent litigation can stop getting between us and our email.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile, Apple, Google
Via: GigaOm
Source: Apple
Despite that billion dollar verdict, the legal battle between Samsung and Apple continues, and the most recent happening comes from the ITC. Following up on an ITC administrative law judge's ruling late last year finding that Samsung had infringed a few of Apple's patented designs and tech, the Commission made its final determination today and issued a limited exclusion order for some Samsung devices. In its decision, the Commission found no violations of any of Apple's design patents, and only found that Samsung infringed a pair of patents -- patent number 7,479,949 for touchscreen technology, and patent number 7,912,501 for audio jack I/O circuitry. In doing so, the Commission stated that devices with workarounds to the asserted patents that were found not to infringe by the ALJ are not subject to the exclusion order.
As a result, offending Samsung devices are scheduled to be banned from importation after a 60-day presidential review period. During those two months, the devices can still be sold, but unless Obama steps up for Samsung in the same way he did for Apple in a separate ITC case, we won't be seeing them stateside again. While we don't have an exact list of the affected devices, we do know that the devices at issue are older models like the Continuum, the Transform and the Galaxy S II. So, consumers won't feel much of an impact from the ban, but we bet Apple's legal team will have a much more enjoyable weekend as a result of this latest win.
Update: Samsung has issued a statement on the matter, which can be found after the break
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Samsung
Source: US ITC
And just like that, the great Apple and Amazon "app store" legal tousle ended. Today, Apple was granted its request to dismiss the suit it filed back in 2011 to prevent Amazon from using the app store moniker for its Android software market. Part and parcel with the dismissal, Apple also gave Amazon a covenant not to sue, assuring Bezos and company won't have to run this particular legal gauntlet again. We aren't sure exactly what prompted Apple to finally drop the suit, but given indications that the court was inclined to take Amazon's side of things fairly early on, this resolution isn't terribly surprising. Should you wish to read the good news in legalese, we've included the court's order as the source below.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Apple, Amazon
Via: Reuters
Source: Court Order [PDF]
Samsung got a big win in the International Trade Commission today, as the ITC handed down a final ruling finding that several models of AT&T-compatible iPhones and iPads infringe a Samsung patent, and issued an exclusion order preventing them from being imported, sold or distributed in the US. This final ruling comes months after an ALJ determined that Apple did not infringe any of Samsung's IP, but clearly, the commission felt differently upon its review. This final determination holds that AT&T models of the iPhone 4, 3GS and 3G, plus AT&T iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G models infringe four claims of Samsung's patent number 7,706,348 for encoding mobile communications.
The ITC reversed the ALJ's ruling in part based upon modified construction of several key terms in the claims at issue, but upheld the prior decision regarding the other three patents Samsung asserted in the action. So, what does this mean for Apple? Not a tremendous amount, truthfully, as the newly banned devices are no longer Cupertino's standard bearers and account for little of massive profits. Plus, Apple will, no doubt appeal the decision in court. Still, Samsung's bound to feel pretty good about the victory, and every little bit helps in its quest to remain atop the smartphone heap, right?
Source: ITC [PDF]
The patent wars have grown long and tiresome for many, but Twitter's among the first to take meaningful action to stop them with its Innovator's Patent Agreement. Today, the company launched version 1.0 of the IPA and is using it for the first time. Patent number 8,448,084, which claims a method for refreshing a scrollable list of content (aka pull-to-refresh) is the first to get the IPA treatment, which means that Twitter has pledged to use this patent for defensive purposes only.
What's that mean? Well, under this version of the IPA, Twitter can assert claims against anyone who has filed, threatened or participated in a patent infringement suit against Twitter or any of its users, affiliates, customers, suppliers or distributors. It can also assert the patent to "deter a patent litigation threat" against Twitter and its peoples. If you're thinking that such a broad definition of "defensive purposes" means Twitter can pretty much use its IPA'd patents how it chooses, you're pretty much right. Still, we applaud Twitter's effort to pre-empt future patent litigation, but we'll have to wait and see if it accomplishes its goal of having companies spending their money on innovation instead of litigation.
Filed under: Software
Source: Official Twitter blog
In a move which should surprise no one who's been following along, New York City livery car groups successfully won a bid yesterday afternoon for a temporary restraining order against New York City's smartphone-based hail pilot program ("e-hails," if you will). This effectively shuts down any (limited) plans UberTAXI and others had for getting back in business in Gotham -- both Uber and Hailo are being stopped from operating in NYC as a result. Under the pilot program -- approved earlier this year but mired in legal drama ever since -- services like Uber and Hailo could be used in NYC's approximately 13K yellow cabs. Livery cab businesses in NYC have sought to stop the program's implementation via legal means. Its latest effort, the "application for interim relief," was admitted via lawyer Randy Mastro of Gibson Dunn, and cites the following as its reason for the temporary restraining order:
"Absent emergency relief, petitioners and the public will suffer irreparable injury to their livelihoods, businesses and industry, fundamental rights and environmental interests, all of which will be impossible to remedy after this case is resolved in petitioner's favor."
Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation, Software
Via: Bloomberg
In HTC and Nokia's ongoing patent litigation, one patent infringement claim against HTC was dismissed today by the District Court of Mannheim, Germany. The patent in question -- regarding "a communication network terminal for accessing internet" -- describes a "terminal" that can access the internet.
As FOSS Patents points out, today's dismissal was part of an ongoing collaboration between Google and Android phone makers who've been targeted by Nokia over claims against the Google Play store. "Nokia had alleged that Android's app architecture centered around the Google Play store infringes the '016 patent because of the way it allows third-party app developers to provide data to the end-user devices on which their programs run via a Google-operated server," the site notes. In that regard, today's dismissal marked a victory for Google beyond HTC -- though HTC issued a statement this afternoon exclaiming its "delight" over the court's ruling. Nokia has yet to return our request for comment.
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Software, Mobile, HTC, Nokia, Google
Source: FOSS Patents
Google's been taking heat for a number of years since its Street View cars were found to be pulling WiFi data, and the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information has today hit the search giant with a 145,000 euro fine (almost $190,000) for its indiscretions. You may not remember this specific case in Germany -- it was nearly three years ago that investigations began, after all -- but it has now come a close with this fine and the ruling that El Goog illegally recorded personal data including emails, passwords and pictures, which have all reportedly been deleted. We know the company has enough cash to pay in full, so the ruling will likely make more of a dent to its image than its bank account.
Via: PCWorld
Source: Hamburg's Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom