If you thought that the patent war between Apple and Samsung may finally come to an end, then think again, with an appeals court today handing the Cupertino-based company a defeat by invalidating two Apple patents and ruling a third had not been infringed by Samsung (via Bloomberg). The ruling, which covers Apple patents related to slide-to-unlock, autocorrect, and interactive phone number features, also threw out the original $119.6 million in damages Apple had been awarded in the case.
The appeals court threw out the verdict that Apple had won, but upheld a jury finding that iPhone maker has to pay a $158,400 damage award for infringing a Samsung patent on video compression.
In this case, Apple claimed that Samsung infringed patents for the slide-to-unlock feature, autocorrect and a way to detect phone numbers that can then be touched to make phone calls. The autocorrect patent is invalid and the detection patent wasn’t infringed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in an opinion posted on its electronic docket. The court upheld the jury’s verdict that two other Apple patents, for universal search and background syncing, weren’t infringed.
In this case, Apple claimed that Samsung infringed patents for the slide-to-unlock feature, autocorrect and a way to detect phone numbers that can then be touched to make phone calls. The autocorrect patent is invalid and the detection patent wasn’t infringed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in an opinion posted on its electronic docket.
The case is one of two major suits between the companies, which is all that’s left of a global patent war that began in April 2011 when Apple accused Samsung of “slavishly” copying the iPhone. An Apple victory in the other case, involving the patented designs of the phone, was upheld on appeal and is awaiting possible consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.
At the time of the report, it has been revealed that the appeals court also decided that Apple was liable for infringing on one of Samsung’s patents, but the details of this are not known just yet.
It is a big win for Samsung in a court battle that has gone on for years now, but it’s not likely to go away just yet.
Apple Loses $119.6 Million in Samsung Case