‘Patriotic’ U.S. jury issue verdict in disfavor of Samsung

At a U.S. court trial over Samsung Electronics’ alleged infringement of Apple’s patents to recalculate damage, the jury issued a verdict that suggested Samsung pay additional 290 million U.S. dollars to the U.S. technology firm. When combined with the 640 million dollars that was fixed at the previous ruling, the total compensation amounts to 930 million dollars.

Regarding the verdict, Samsung Electronics said, “We express regret over the verdict that was based on patents that the U.S. Intellectual Property Office ruled invalid,” noting that it will seek an appeal to the appellate court.

At the trial held at the Northern California Federal District Court on Thursday (local time), the jury issued a verdict that Samsung pay 290 million dollars in compensation for the infringement of Apple’s patents. This is smaller than 379.78 million dollars demanded by Apple, but bigger than 52.7 million dollars claimed by Samsung Electronics.

The latest trial was held to recalculate the amount of compensation because legal incompatibility was disclosed in the initial verdict issued in August last year, which ordered Samsung to pay Apple 1.05 billion dollars. If the new verdict is upheld, Samsung’s compensation only declines by 120 million dollars from the figure in the initial verdict. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in charge of the case will reportedly issue a ruling based on the verdict early next year.

Soon after the verdict was issued, Apple spokesperson said, “For Apple, this case has always been about more than patents and money. It has been about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love. While it’s impossible to put a price tag on those values, we are grateful to the jury for showing Samsung that copying has a cost.”