Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. will have a face-off in the US Supreme Court on Tuesday. This is in connection with Apple's previous design patent lawsuit against Samsung back in 2011.
Samsung has recently been ordered to pay $120 million to Apple by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Korean-based tech company was found to infringe Apple's slide-to-unlock and autocorrect feature patents.
The Impact Of The Design Patent Case
The impact of the case is not only limited to the two tech rivals. Villanova University's Patent Law Professor Michael Risch has talked to The Christian Science Monitor about the case. He explained that it also affects other design patent cases.
Risch revealed that there would be lesser companies involved in such cases. This will happen if the court decides to change its usual legal stand. Apparently, the increase of design patent cases may be caused by its profitability.
The Wall Street Journal has reported about Samsung's argument on the case. The company has cited an ambiguously worded law passed by Congress in 1887. This will favor Samsung in not paying all the profits from its 11 smartphones.
According CNET, these 11 smartphones are the Galaxy Prevail, Gem, Indulge, Infuse 4G, Galaxy SII AT&T, Captivate, Continuum, Droid Charge, Epic 4G, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Tab, Nexus S 4G, Replenish and Transform.
Risch added that the Supreme Court will have to decide whether the "profits" refer to "profits on the entire product" or "profits due to the infringement of the patent".
How Much Does Samsung Owe Apple?
If Apple wins their case, Samsung might be paying an additional $180 million aside from the previous $548 million. However, the decision will not be immediate. The ruling will most likely be on early 2017. Whoever wins the case, it's assured that there will be more trials.
Which Side Are You?
Other tech companies like Facebook, Google, HP, eBay and Dell have expressed support to Google. They argue that the damages as awarded are "deeply flawed". CNET also reports that 50 professors from Stanford and Georgetown universities are on Samsung's side.
Apple is not short of such support system. Calvin Klein, Alexander Wang and more than 100 design industry professionals have sided with the iPhone maker.
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