After Judge Lucy Koh decided to invalidate $450.5 million of the original damages owed to Apple in its trial against Samsung, most of the press believed this meant Apple wasn’t going to get anywhere near the original $1.05 billion owed to it by Samsung. Turns out everyone was probably wrong.
Even though Judge Koh ordered a new trial to determine the proper damages to award Apple for 14 of the 28 infringing Samsung devices, Apple could actually get more than the original $1.05 billion figure.
FOSS Patents pointed out at the time that the drastic cut could turn out to actually be an increase after the trial over the 14 products. FOSS Patents claimed that the verdict will either be higher or lower than the original verdict reached by the jury in August, but it’s not likely to be the same, while most other websites reported that Apple won’t see the $450 million at all.
A recent filing by Samsung’s own lawyers actually backs up FOSS’s claim by stating:
“Apple can seek even more damages on these products in the new trial.”
Judge Koh’s order only “vacated” the $450 million until a proper verdict on damages can be reached. So at this time, a reduction in the amount owed isn’t necessarily a given at this point, and Apple will probably get some of that $450 million awarded to it again, and maybe even more if the jury sees fit.
Bottom line is, we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the second trial before we know how much Samsung owes Apple, but it’s too early to say that the vacated amount makes Apple look stupid.
Source: Fortune
