Samsung Electronics Co. agreed at last to pay $548 million to Apple Inc. in accordance to a court ruling on a five year long patent battle.
In a filing Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., Samsung said it will pay the damages after the court denied the company’s latest appeal. However, Samsung said it might seek reimbursement from Apple depending on any future rulings.
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The issue started when Apple first sued Samsung in April 2011, saying its Korean rival had copied the look and feel of the iPhone. A jury ruled in favor of Apple in 2012 and awarded $1.05 billion in damages.
That total was reduced to $930m on an appeal by Samsung. Further legal action split this total into two parts - a $548m chunk for technology patents and a $382m chunk for allegations that Samsung copied Apple's packaging materials. The second award is to be decided by jury in 2016.
Despite agreeing to pay the first part of the settlement, Samsung said it reserved the right to get its money back if there were further developments in the case. The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is currently reviewing some of the patents Apple used in the court case.
“We are disappointed that the court has agreed to proceed with Apple’s grossly exaggerated damages claims regardless of whether the patents are valid,” Samsung said in an emailed statement. “While we’ve agreed to pay Apple, we remain confident that our products do not infringe on Apple’s design patents, and we will continue to take all appropriate measures within the legal system to protect our products and our intellectual property.”
In a filing to the court, Apple disputed Samsung’s assertion that it had any right to be reimbursed. Apple reiterated in a statement that the ruling “reinforces what courts around the world have already found: that Samsung willfully stole our ideas and copied our products.” The company also thanked the court for “sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn’t right.”
While Apple has been able to obtain monetary judgments against Samsung, it hasn’t gotten what it really sought: a far-reaching injunction on sales of certain Samsung phones and tablets.