Skip to main content

Good news for Samsung: U.S. Supreme Court to hear appeal

With its media event set to take place in a few hours, and its face-off with the FBI in court tomorrow — it’s a big week for Apple. But it’s not the only thing on the iPhone maker’s mind — the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from Samsung about the Korean manufacturer’s long-running legal dispute with the Cupertino company.

The issue stems from Apple’s complaint that Samsung has infringed on parts of the iPhone’s design, and the legal back-and-forth dates back to 2011. Last December, Samsung finally agreed to pay $548 million, but reserved the right to appeal to the Supreme Court. More recently in February of 2016, Samsung won a big victory, on separate claims, when a U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a famous May 2014 ruling that ordered the Korean giant to cough up $119.6 million for infringing on Apple’s patents. Apple didn’t win the May ruling outright, as the court said Apple infringed on some patents as well.

Recommended Videos

Samsung’s appeal to the Supreme Court consists of two questions: “Whether the court of appeals correctly ruled that the district court did not commit reversible error in instructing the jury regarding the scope of Apple’s design patent claims;” and “Whether 35 U.S.C. § 289, which provides that a party that infringes a design patent may be held ‘liable … to the extent of his total profit,’ permitted the jury to award damages equal to Samsung’s total profit from its devices that infringed Apple’s design patents.”

It’s not all good news for Samsung as the Supreme Court has only agreed to take the second question, which essentially boils down to whether the amount paid for the infringements was too excessive, according to @SCOTUSblog. By passing on the first question, it seems that the Supreme Court will not focus too much on the scope of the design patents themselves.

Samsung still appreciates the Supreme Court’s decision, a spokesperson for the company said.

“We thank the many large technology companies, 37 intellectual property professors, and several groups representing small business, which have supported our position,” the company wrote in a blogpost. “The Court’s review of this case can lead to a fair interpretation of patent law that will support creativity and reward innovation.”

Apple filed a brief urging the Supreme Court not to take the case, contending that “Samsung had its day in court — many days, in fact — and the properly instructed jury was well justified in finding that Samsung copied Apple’s designs and should pay the damages that the statute expressly authorizes.”

Julian Chokkattu
Former Mobile and Wearables Editor
Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…
Samsung aped iPhone filters, but served it better on the Galaxy S25
Using filters on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

With the arrival of the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung introduced a bevy of camera-centric changes. Take for example the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which upgrades to a 50-megapixel ultrawide sensor, a new Spatio Temporal filter for blur reduction, 8K capture across all lenses, default 10-bit HDR recording, and more. But the company silently gave a massive boost to filters.

So far, users have only been able to pick a filter and capture media with the effect applied on top. There was no scope for fine-tuning the filter characteristics in real time. That limitation has finally gone to the grave with the Galaxy S25 series.

Read more
A major Samsung Galaxy S25 leak bares all, and there’s plenty of bad news
All four colors of the Samsung Galaxy S24 laying face-down on a table.

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series will officially pop up on stage later this month. It does not offer much to feel excited about, it seems. The folks over at Android Headlines have shared alleged specs sheets of the upcoming Samsung phones alongside market-ready product renders of all three trims.

Starting with the Galaxy S25 and its Plus variant, the only notable change is the new silicon. They will arrive toting Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, but the rest of the internal hardware is a no-excitement zone. As far as the design goes, abandon all hope.

Read more
Samsung and Apple’s race to slim phones might skirt the sticker shock
Samsung Galaxy S24 and iPhone 16 Pro side by side.

Over the course of the past few months, numerous outlets have reported on Samsung and Apple’s plans to make “slim” phones. Naturally, one would think that an “innovation tax” is imminent, but it seems these skinny phones won’t deliver a price shock.

In Apple’s case, the alleged iPhone 17 Air will replace the iPhone Plus model, which apparently had an unexpectedly low sales run. Apple, therefore, has to fill the Plus gap with an Air model this year without making any big changes to the pricing structure.

Read more