While most of the ongoing court battles between Samsung and Apple have been resolved, abandoned, agreed, or otherwise, there are still one or two pending. In fact, one of them did come to an end and in favor or Apple. Although since then Samsung has been working hard to get the decision looked at again by the US Supreme Court. A move which has so far garnered quite the media attention and support from some unlikely companies and places. Most recently, the US Department of Justice even weighed in on the matter with a recommendation that the US Supreme Court overturns the verdict and returns the case to the courts for a second look.
In spite of this particular battle seeming to be eternally ongoing, it now looks as though there are some firm dates in place as the US Supreme Court is now listing that arguments from Samsung and Apple on this matter will finally be heard on October 11 of this year. While this is good news for Samsung, it is only good news to an extent as the October 11 date has nothing to do with actually looking to address the previous outcome of this case, but instead is focused specifically on the damages awarded and whether they are relatively speaking, just.
While the damages already awarded are not incredible and certainly manageable by a company of Samsung’s position and resources, the appeal from Samsung looks to differentiate damages awarded for patents for components to those which are awarded for an entire product. As it currently stands, the damages incurred by Samsung are relative to profits made from an actual product and it is this component patent to product damages ratio that Samsung believes is excessive. As a result the Supreme Court will be specifically looking to address whether infringements of a design patent that apply “to only a component of a product” should automatically equate “to those profits attributable to the component” and not the product. An outcome which if returned in Samsung’s favor could be far-reaching in its implications for a number of products, companies, court battles and design patents in the future.