Apple Demands Another $180m From Samsung

Apple has demanded another payment of nearly $180 million (£120m) from Samsung only a few days after the South Korean electronics giant paid it more than half a billion dollars in damages as a result of the two companies’ high-profile smartphone court battle.

In court papers filed last week, Apple demanded the additional payment for supplemental damages and interest.

Patent claims

The demand relates to five Samsung devices at issue in a case whose 2012 jury verdict found Samsung liable for infringing Apple’s patents and the look of the iPhone. Apple and Samsung are the world’s two largest smartphone makers.

Apple could not immediately be reached for comment. Samsung declined to comment.

In the 2012 verdict, a jury at the US District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose initially ordered Samsung to pay Apple $1.05 billion (£664 million) in damages, but in May a US appeals court reduced the amount to $548m, which Samsung paid on 14 December.

The new claim demands damages for infringements after the cut-off date considered in the jury trial, along with interest. Samsung is expected to contest Apple’s demand.

Appeals

The South Korean company is appealing the 2012 verdict, and if it’s successful Apple might be obliged to return some of this month’s payment.

A Samsung appeal is expected to be heard in March in a San Jose federal appeals court, and Samsung has also appealed to the US Supreme Court, which hasn’t yet decided whether to accept the case.

In its Supreme Court appeal Samsung has argued that the large payment sets a precedent that could stifle innovation by heightening companies’ fears of legal challenges.

Samsung and Apple agreed to settle their disputes outside the US in 2014. Even as the US cases continue, Samsung continues to work with Apple as a supplier of processors and screens for iPhones and iPads.

Separately, Apple earlier this month agreed to pay a proportion of its revenues for every iPhone and iPad it sells as the result of a patent settlement involving wireless patents. The deal concludes lawsuits filed by both companies against one another in January.

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