Samsung Electronics must pay approximately $120 million to Apple for patent infringement, the Supreme Court of the United States effectively ruled on Monday after refusing to hear the South Korean tech giant’s appeal to the fine confirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in late 2016. The penalty covers infringement of a number of Apple’s proprietary iPhone features like quick links and slide-to-unlock, having originally been awarded to the Cupertino, California-based consumer electronics company in mid-2014 but being subjected to numerous additional reviews by appellate bodies ever since.
The new development marks the definitive end of the years-long legal battle over mobile patent infringement between two of the largest smartphone makers on the planet; with the top judicial body in the country refusing to hear Samsung’s appeal, the Seoul-based original equipment manufacturer officially exhausted all of its legal remedies for (once again) overturning the decision on the matter in favor of Apple. Samsung’s dismissed argument relied on claims that the original fine issued to the company wasn’t determined in accordance with established legal procedures, having been made without expert testimonies and supporting paperwork, in addition to supposedly falling victim to a law change pertaining to injunctions and invalidated patents. Apple rebuffed those notions by stating that Samsung’s appeal doesn’t hold anything of value for the SCOTUS to review, with the court ultimately agreeing with that assessment.
Samsung is now expected to pay the full sum awarded to Apple in the near future, presumably by the end of the year. Despite their legal disputes, Samsung and Apple have been successfully collaborating for many years now, with the South Korean company standing to make a significant profit on the new iPhone X whose 5.8-inch Super AMOLED panel was supplied by Samsung Display. Apple has reportedly been seeking to free itself from its reliance on Samsung as a parts supplier in recent times, though the firm is still without many alternatives, with its rival‘s dominance in the mobile OLED segment remaining rather convincing. LG Display is projected to put up a better fight in the coming years as it ramps up its manufacturing capabilities, though Apple and Samsung are still likely to continue their partnership in the foreseeable future.