Samsung Vs Apple: US Supreme Court rules in favour of the South Korean giant
The US Supreme Court has backed Samsung in the latest round of its patent bout with Apple.
The decision to throw out an appeals court ruling means the South Korean company won't necessarily have to pay the $399m (£313m) penalty to Apple for copying the design of the iPhone.
The US justices were unanimous in their decision, ruling eight to zero in favour of sending the case back to the lower court for further proceedings. Two lower courts have already ruled in Apple's favour on design-patent infringement.
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Today’s ruling is only the latest skirmish in a never-ending patent war between the two tech giants and no one expects it to end here.
In 2012 jurors found that 11 smartphone models made by Samsung infringed Apple’s design patents.
Apple argued it was entitled to the total profits on Samsung’s infringing products while Samsung said the design was only one component of complex devices and it shouldn’t have to hand over all of its profits on the phones.
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The Supreme Court said an appeals court used the wrong analysis when it ruled for Apple and its decision to focus only on the end product sold to consumers was "too narrow".