Samsung, on the losing end of a massive smartphone patent lawsuit,
appealed on Monday to the US Supreme Court in hopes of overturning a
ruling that it pay $548 million to rival Apple.
The two hi-tech
behemoths went to court over the designs that have now become
commonplace on most popular smartphones, with a court ruling in 2012 in
favor of Apple.
At issue were design features by now familiar to
consumers: a black, rectangular, round-cornered phone front, a
surrounding rim, known as the "bezel" and a grid of 16 colorful icons.
Those
design elements were protected, prompting the jury to award Apple all
the profits from sales of smartphones containing those features, Samsung
lawyers said in their filing.
"While Samsung prefers to compete
in the marketplace, not the courtroom, the company feels that it is
important to appeal this case to the US Supreme Court on behalf of all
US companies, big and small, that could be affected if this legal
precedent stands," the company said in an email response to an AFP
inquiry.
Several of the world's technology titans filed briefs
supporting Samsung while the case was in federal circuit court in
Silicon Valley, according to the firm.
Attorneys for the South
Korean consumer electronics titan argued that the massive payout was not
warranted, because smartphones "contain countless other features that
give them remarkable functionality wholely unrelated to their design."
"Even
if the patented features contributed one percent of the value of
Samsung's phones, Apple gets 100 percent of Samsung's profits," the
appeal said.
In response to an AFP inquiry, Apple said it stands by its comment after the trial victory in 2012.
"The lawsuits between Apple and Samsung were about much more than patents or money," the Apple statement said.
"They
were about values. We applaud the court for finding Samsung's behavior
willful and for sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn't
right."
Samsung pays up
Samsung early this month agreed
to pay smartphone rival Apple just over $548 million (roughly Rs. 3,672 crores) in the years-long
patent battle in federal court in California.
However, the
agreement came with one key proviso, as the two tech giants agreed to
continue "to pursue the existing cases in US courts."
Samsung said
in a legal filing that it would pay Apple the partial judgement awarded
but that it reserved the right to get money back if the amount is
modified or overturned on appeal or if the validity of patents at issue
is successfully challenged.
Apple said in the joint filing that it disagrees with Samsung's contention that it has a right to be reimbursed.
A
court in September awarded Apple the partial judgment. Samsung's
options narrowed to simply paying the money or trying to take its fight
to the US Supreme Court.
The hefty sum is significantly less than
the billion dollars Apple sought at the outset of the 2012 patent trial
in Northern California, and doesn't put to rest an argument over who
should pay Apple's legal costs said to total $1.8 million (roughly Rs. 12 crores).
In
another sign that the legal fight would drag on, Apple also asked the
court for a green light to file a motion asking for supplemental damages
for products that weren't calculated into the award.
Samsung and
Apple decided last year to drop all patent disputes outside the United
States, marking a partial ceasefire in a long-running legal war between
the world's two largest smartphone makers.
The arch-rivals have
battled in close to a dozen countries, with each accusing the other of
infringing on various patents related to their flagship smartphone and
tablet products.
But neither has managed to deliver a knock-out
blow with a number of rulings going different ways, and in an
announcement they agreed to drop all litigation outside the United
States, suggesting a line was finally being drawn.
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