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Apple asks Supreme Court not to hear Samsung’s latest appeal, says the case is closed

Men are silhouetted against a video screen with Apple and Samsung logos as he poses with Samsung S3 and Samsung S4 smartphones in this photo illustration taken in the central Bosnian town of Zenica

In the patent battle that feels as if it will never end, Apple has today asked the Supreme Court not to review Samsung’s latest appeals request in the two companies’ ongoing patent feud. Back in December, it was announced that Apple and Samsung had reached a $548 million settlement, but with a catch. Samsung said in its part of the agreement that it reserved the right to reclaim reimbursement should any position of the trial be modified…

Then, Samsung announced that it was taking the legal battle to the U.S. Supreme Court and asked it to hear an appeal of the case. Specifically, Samsung wants the U.S. Supreme Court to review design patents and the notion that lower courts misapplied the law concerning Apple’s design patents.

Apple has now filed an argument with the court in which it argues that the design patents and the damages awarded were already settled issues and not worthy of review by the Supreme Court. The company argues that there is no further reason that this trial should be prolonged (via Re/code):

“Samsung had its day in court — many days, in fact — and the properly instructed jury was well-justified in finding that Samsung copied Apple’s designs and should pay the damages that the statute expressly authorizes,” Apple said on Thursday. “While this litigation may be high-profile, it is legally unexceptional, and Samsung has shown no reason for this Court to prolong it.”

For good measure, Samsung issued a reply to Apple’s statement, saying that should the Supreme Court not step in and stop this design patent precedent from being set, innovation in the tech community could be negatively impacted:

 “If the legal precedent in this case stands, innovation could be diminished, competition could be stifled, and opportunistic lawsuits could have negative effects throughout the U.S. economy,” it said in a statement.

While Samsung has already paid Apple its $548 million, Apple would be forced to reimburse Samsung if the Supreme Court changes the verdict. On the other hand, if the Supreme Court does not hear the case, it can finally be put to rest.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

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Comments

  1. pdixon1986 - 8 years ago

    I can kind of understand apples frustration — ok, go to court, appeal… but don’t keep dragging it along…You can’t win every case, and just because you keep appealing, doesnt mean the decision will be changed…
    In fact, if it is taken to court i would essentially say “ok…you owe the same amount, plus the legal court fees etc for Apple as well.”

    This is very time consuming and cost consuming…

    Patents are beginning to become annoying.

  2. Andrew Maloney - 8 years ago

    When Apple became ‘patently apple’ they should have expected this. They should have anticipated they’d need to spend time in court to protect the patents. That said, everything that Samsung responded with is also true, is this the precedent we really want set?

  3. Wyatt - 8 years ago

    The real problem seems to be that Samsung is attempting to set a new precedent; that being when a case is closed, agreements are made and settlements paid we can go back and have it heard again so maybe we can get some money back and have things seen our way. You can’t retry an already closed case based off the same evidence. This is a ridiculous waste of money and time. Now if Samsung hasn’t run out of appeals then they’re in their right to go for it and Apple needs to just sit back and get ready for it. At the same time innovation is not stifled by patents in of themselves. Real innovation happens when people figure out new ways to accomplish the same tasks not simply copy what others have already done. In any case I think it’s long past the time we stop paying so much attention to these types of suits.

  4. mytawalbeh - 8 years ago

    You can see how this Copycat-king ‘SAMEsung’ is annoying.
    They have super flippant character in everything they get involved in.

  5. This could come back to bite Apple (pun intended). Samsung is fighting awarding damages based on the cost of the entire phone. IMO, it’s a good battle to fight. If Apple gets hit with a future patent suit and loses, they could be facing fines based on the entire iPhone instead of cost of component. Not sure they want that. If it happens, I am sure the precedent set in the Samsung v Apple case will be used against Apple. Ironic.

Author

Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com