WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court took up the blockbuster legal battle between Apple and Samsung Tuesday in a case likely to result in a landmark decision on the importance of design in technology patents.
The highest US court began hearing arguments over damages the South Korean smartphone giant owes Apple for allegedly violating design patents by producing copycats of its groundbreaking iPhone.
Observers are watching to see how the court — which has not taken up a design patent case in more than a century — tips the balance between technological innovation and protecting intellectual property. A ruling is expected in several months.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a $400 million verdict — part of a nearly billion-dollar award in Apple’s favor later reduced to $548 million — that found Samsung had copied the iPhone, including its distinctive front screen and graphical touchscreen interface.
The case is among several in courts around the world between the two smartphone giants, but this case is likely to set an important precedent over the importance of design patents.
California-based Apple had protected those features with US design patents that concern the way items look. They are distinct from utility patents, which protect how articles are used and work, and do not concern copyrights or trademarks.
Samsung is challenging the verdict, disputing how damages are calculated in design patent cases.
The award — in accordance with a statute first adopted in 1887 and later affirmed by Congress in 1952 — requires patent violators to hand over their total profits even if the violation covers only one element of a product.
Samsung argues it should be held liable only for some portion of the profit tied to patented design aspects, given the many innovative components that go into the making of smartphones.
Apple interprets the statute more narrowly, saying it is entitled to all profits from Samsung’s phones.
