Apple vs. Samsung Case Could Return to Lower Court
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has urged the Supreme Court to send the Apple vs. Samsung case back to trial court, overturning an appeals court ruling which had sided with the Cupertino company. If this happens, the case will be subject to further litigation before a ruling is made.
Apple's courtroom disputes with Samsung have been going on for some time, with Apple arguing successfully that Samsung copied the design of its iPhone, and implemented this design in its range of Galaxy smartphones. The copying hasn't stopped, even though Samsung was slapped with a hefty financial penelty. It's been Samsung's mission to reduce this fine ever since, and last year, it was successful: the figure was reduced to just over half a billion dollars.
The appeals court uphold Samsung's infringement of the iPhone across several key areas, and the Supreme Court was asked to review this. Now, as Reuters explains, it seems the Supreme Court could in fact send this lengthy dispute back to lower court.
In its amicus brief on Wednesday, the Justice Department said it was unclear whether Samsung had produced enough evidence to support its argument that phone components, not the entire phone, should be what matters when calculating damages.
The Supreme Court should send the case back for the trial court to determine whether a new trial is warranted on that issue, the Justice Department said.
The bottom line, then, is that this dispute could rage on for a lot longer yet. And still, the similarities between Apple's handsets and Samsung's smartphones keep on coming.