The last big patent fight between Apple and Samsung Electronics turned in mixed results, but Apple insisted that a sales ban should be placed on Samsung’s infringing products anyway.
A judge this week issued a decision denying a sales ban, and Apple on Friday said it would appeal the decision.
In the trial, which wrapped up in May, jurors concluded that Samsung should pay $119.6 million in damages for violating three of Apple’s patents — far below the $2 billion that Apple had asked for. Samsung’s Galaxy S III, a flagship smartphone, accounted for the biggest portion, contributing $52 million worth of the damages.
The federal judge presiding over the case, Lucy H. Koh, said in an order on Wednesday that Apple had failed to prove it would be “irreparably harmed” if Samsung were allowed to continue selling its infringing devices. She added that Apple had not demonstrated that the patented inventions discussed in the trial were driving demand for Samsung’s infringing devices.
Apple has not satisfied its burden of demonstrating irreparable harm and linking that harm to Samsung’s exploitation of any of Apple’s three infringed patents. Apple has not established that it suffered significant harm in the form of either lost sales or reputational injury. Moreover, Apple has not shown that it suffered any of these alleged harms because Samsung infringed Apple’s patents.
In a filing on Friday, Apple said it would file its appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. It is a sign that even though Apple and Samsung recently agreed to drop patent lawsuits against one another outside the United States, their fight here isn’t nearly over.