By Alexandra Burlacu | Mar 03, 2013 12:19 PM EST
Apple faces a major setback in its mobile patents battle against Samsung Electronics, as a federal judge slashed the damages award and set a new trial.
Last year, Apple won a $1.05 billion jury award against Samsung in what was the biggest and highest-profile case in the global dispute between the two tech giants. In today's highly competitive market, Apple and Samsung are waging a war over the use and alleged abuse of mobile patents.
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On Friday, March 1, a federal judge slashed the $1.05 billion damages award by more than 40 percent and set a new trial to determine the actual damages.
"We are pleased that the court decided to strike $450,514,650 from the jury's award," Samsung boasted in a statement, as cited by Reuters. "Samsung intends to seek further review as to the remaining award."
The ruling on Friday comes from Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court Northern District of California in San Jose. The new ruling means the legal dispute between the two tech giants is far from over. With a new damages trial set, Apple and Samsung may once again go head to head in a California court to argue how much of the $450.05 million slashed from the damages should stand. Te damages are associated with 14 Samsung products which Apple claims are infringing.
Judge Koh said the jury erroneously calculated part of the damages, which means that a new trial is needed to determine the actual and final damages amount. Koh rejected Apple's motion to increase the jury's damages award and ordered a new trial on damages for all 14 devices in question, including the Samsung Galaxy S3. The jury's nearly $599 million award to Apple for 14 other separate products still stands.
"The court has identified an impermissible legal theory on which the jury based its award and cannot reasonably calculate the amount of excess while effectuating the intent of the jury," the judge explains in her ruling, according to Reuters.
Samsung and Apple are the world's two biggest smartphone makers, and each scored victories in their patent disputes spanning over four continents. The two tech giants are fighting for dominance of an increasingly growing mobile-device market, and Apple accused Samsung of "slavishly copying" its devices. Despite all the legal fuss, however, Apple remains one of Samsung's biggest customers.
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