Samsung Ordered to Pay Big for Copying iPhone Design

Samsung is ordered to pay Apple $533 million for copying iPhone design features. A federal court jury has ordered this to Samsung as a decision in a patent case which goes back seven years.

Additional $5 million in damages is to be paid for a pair of patented functions. The decision was a victory for Apple, as it was able to convince the jury that the designs were copied by Samsung.

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The case was important as it was seen that whether a design can be so unique that it is called the “article of design”

Samsung attorney John Quinn told US District Court Judge Lucy Koh: “We don’t think it is supported by the evidence.”

Adding, “We have every concern about the determinations about the article of manufacture.”

Juror Christine Calderon said that the panel  was of consensus that one of the design patents characterized the whole phone while the others were considered the display assembly that gave the iPhone its look

Comparing it to Mona Lisa she said,  “you use the paint, but it is not the article of manufacture. I had to really think about it,” the 26-year-old Calderon, a technical writer, said after Koh dismissed the jury. We kind of felt like we ended up at a happy medium.”

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Apple said in court that design was essential to iPhone, it was “article of manufacture” and worth every penny Samsung made by copying it. The three design patents that were copied apply to iPhone’s black screen shape with rounded edges and a bezel.

Samsung said, “Today’s decision flies in the face of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favor of Samsung on the scope of design patent damages. We will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity and fair competition for all companies and consumers.”