It’s not $1 billion, but it’s very close. Apple is now owed a total of $929 million in damages by Samsung Electronics for infringing several iPhone and iPad patents. The total dollar figure increased Thursday when a federal jury in California awarded Apple $290 million in a retrial of the damages portion of a 2012 case between the two tech giants.
That case, argued before U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, went to Apple when a jury found that Samsung had violated a number of patents in the design of its Galaxy SII smartphone and Galaxy tablet. The Korean manufacturer was ordered to pay $1.05 billion in damages.
Judge Koh later found the jury’s award calculations were flawed, saying the period over which Samsung’s infringement occurred was miscalculated, and reduced Apple’s award by $410.5 million before sending the damages issue back to trial.
Apple, in an e-mailed statement, said the 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.”
Samsung said it is disappointed in a decision “based in large part on a patent that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has recently deemed invalid,” a company spokesperson said.
Thursday’s verdict comes after a week of arguments in which Apple sought to restore $380 million of the original award. Samsung recommended an award of $52 million. The award is the fifth largest from a jury in the U.S. this year, according to Bloomberg data, and the largest jury award this year in a patent case. It includes a breakdown for damages for the Samsung devices covered by the retrial.
On Tuesday, an appellate court decision opened the way for Apple to again pursue a ban on some Samsung mobile devices. Apple sought the ban after its patent victory last August.
Apple and Samsung are gearing up for another courtroom fight next March, again before Judge Koh. The dispute in that matter is over patents in newer products from each of the companies, including the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S III.
