Samsung and Apple battle in Appeals Court over $930 million awarded to Cupertino in first patent trial

Last March, Judge Lucy Koh had signed off on the final tally of $930 million that a second jury had awarded Apple, after the initial jury ruled that Samsung had infringed on its rival's patents. The original jury had awarded Apple $1.05 billion, but Judge Koh had found some inconsistencies in how they came to that amount, and had ordered a second trial on the damages.

Samsung had appealed the $930 million award, and on Thursday lawyers from both sides were peppered by questions from the three judges sitting on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Much of the questioning dealt with whether certain parts of the Apple iPhone were functional, or just a design.

One major issue that was brought up in the courtroom, was whether Apple should be entitled to all of the profits Samsung made on devices that were found to have infringed on Apple's patents. The court sent volleys of questions to Samsung attorney Kathleen Sullivan, forcing her to play defense most of the time. On the other hand, Apple attorney William Lee was asked quite a few questions about the $382 million portion of the jury award that was related to Samsung's use of the distinctive iPhone look. Don't be surprised if the court decides to reduce the amount of money awarded to Apple to cover that specific claim. A decision from the Appeals Court probably won't be announced for several months.

While the first trial covered older models, a second patent trial between Apple and Samsung was held earlier this year. The suit included claims by Apple of patent infringement on more recent Samsung handsets, including the extremely popular Samsung Galaxy S III. While Apple sought $2.2 billion, the jury awarded Apple $119.6 million, a figure which was considered a victory for Samsung.

source: WSJ