In a unanimous ruling, the eight justices threw out the appeals court ruling that said Samsung had to pay a $399 million penalty to Apple for copying key aspects of the iPhone design.
The decision doesn't reverse the original judgement that Samsung copied Apple, but does mean a lower court will have to reassess – and likely reduce – the amount the South Korean firm has to pay.
The original complaint related to 11 phone models developed by Samsung that Apple said unduly copied its designs. The key ruling by the Supreme Court could help Samsung claw back some of the $538 million it paid Apple following a 2012 ruling that found its smartphones ripped-off elements of the Apple’s design.
The long-running dispute, which started when Apple sued Samsung in California in 2011, hinges on 130-year-old legislation that states “it is the design that sells the article”. In 2012, a jury in San Jose ruled in favour of Apple, forcing Samsung to pay $1 billion to its American rival.
In May 2015 the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington upheld the original verdict but cut $382 million of the $1 billion payment after ruling the iPhone’s appearance could not be trademarked. Samsung's appeal to the Supreme Court was an attempt to further cut back how much it has to pay Apple.
In December 2015, Samsung agreed to pay $548 million as a result of the ruling but added it reserved the right to “obtain reimbursement from Apple” as part of the deal. At the same time as announcing it was willing to pay-up, Samsung also requested a review of the case by the Supreme Court.
In its appeal, Samsung argued the legislation being used was outdated and pointed out a smartphone can comprise of more than 200,000 patents. In its ruling, the Supreme Court agreed, arguing that a patent violator doesn’t need pay its entire profits from sales of infringing devices if the design aspects only covered certain components.
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