Slide-to-unlock was a pretty prominent function on the iPhone as well as many other smartphones, including Samsung. Apple decided to go after Samsung for using slide-to-unlock and won their court case against them and because this involves lawyers, there was an appeal. Apple has just won that appeal meaning Samsung will have to pay Apple $119.6USD million which just adds to the blow the company is feeling from the Note7 fallout.
In an 8-4 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said a three-judge panel was wrong to throw out the $119.6 million verdict in February. Instead, it ordered the trial judge to consider whether the judgment should be increased based on any intentional infringement by Samsung. The decision Friday comes less than a week before the U.S. Supreme Court considers another case Apple had filed against Samsung. That case, to be argued Tuesday in Washington, focuses on how much Samsung should pay for copying patented designs for Apple’s iPhone.
In this case, Apple claimed that Samsung infringed patents for the slide-to-unlock feature, autocorrect and a way to detect phone numbers so they can be tapped to make phone calls. The bulk of the award, $98.7 million, was for the detection patent that the earlier panel said wasn’t infringed. The February decision also said the other two patents were invalid.
Losing and fighting these court cases cannot be the best thing for Samsung as they continue to battle issues with their Note7. Just as the company is in full swing of accepting returned devices and shipping out replacements, users are reporting the new devices are a problem as well. In an editorial posted today, Vlad Savov of The Verge suggested Samsung cut its loses and “amputate” the Note7. That actually may be a good idea, especially after this new ruling against the company.
What do you think of Apple winning this appeal and of Samsung’s recent bad luck? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
[button link=”http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-07/apple-wins-appeal-reinstating-119-6-million-samsung-verdict” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Bloomberg[/button]Last Updated on January 23, 2017.
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