Apple’s $539 mn in damages a ‘big win’ over Samsung
Inc. won $539 million from Samsung Electronics Co. in the final throes of the companies’ US court struggle over smartphone technology, seven years after the start of a global patent battle.
Apple sought about $1 billion in a retrial of a case that originally produced a verdict of that amount in 2012, while Samsung argued it should pay only $28 million this time.
Jurors in federal court in San Jose, California, decided only on damages Thursday. It was already established that the South Korean company infringed three of Apple’s design patents—covering the rounded corners of its phones, the rim that surrounds the front face, and the grid of icons that users view -- and two utility
CP GURNANI, Tech Mahindra managing director and CEO
patents, which protect the way something works and is used. “Today’s decision flies in the face of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favor of Samsung on the scope of design patent damages,” Samsung said in a statement after the verdict. “We will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity and fair competition for all companies and consumers.”
John Quinn, a lawyer for Samsung, told the judge the verdict isn’t “supported by the evidence,” and that the company would raise its objections in court filings.
Apple said in a statement that the case “has always been about more than money.”
“We believe deeply in the value of design, and our teams work tirelessly to create innovative products that delight our customers,” the company said.
The basic question for the jury was: Should Samsung have to pay damages based on sales of its smartphones or just their components that infringed the iPhone maker’s patents?
A $1.05 billion jury verdict in 2012 was whittled down by a previous retrial in 2013, along with appeals and adjustments. After Samsung agreed to pay some damages, the case went to the US Supreme Court in 2016 and was returned to US district judge Lucy Koh with an order to revisit $399 million of that award. Now Samsung has to pay an additional $140 million.
The verdict is a “big win” for Apple, said Michael Risch, a law professor at Villanova University School of Law in Pennsylvania. After the Supreme Court’s ruling, “Apple’s upside should have been capped at what it won before,” he said. “Beating that number at trial is a huge victory given that the Supreme Court has theoretically ruled against it.”
That also makes it a “huge loss” for Samsung, “and shows the risk it took by continuing to fight,” he said. “Samsung’s luck with the jury ran out this time, and Apple received a bigger proportion of what it sought.”
The Apple verdict is the third-largest US jury award in 2018 so far, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
SALMAN KHAN TV, DEEPAK DHAR-LED BANIJAY ASIA TIE UP
Banijay Group, the production house behind reality hits such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians, has tied up with actor Salman Khan’s television production house Salman Khan TV to create content across television and web formats.
Banijay last month entered into an equal joint venture with Deepak Dhar, former managing director of EndemolShine India, as part of which he will head the company’s operations as founder and chief executive of the newly created Banijay Asia.
The partnership will see Dhar and Khan generate both fiction and reality shows, across genres.
AT $8,230 BILLION, INDIA 6TH RICHEST COUNTRY; U.S. TOPS THE LIST
India is the sixth wealthiest country in the world with a total wealth of $8,230 billion, while the US is the richest nation globally, says a report. According to the AfrAsia Bank Global Wealth Migration Review, the US is the wealthiest country in the world with a total wealth of $62,584 billion, followed by China ($24,803 billion) at the second place and Japan ($19,522 billion) at the third place.
“Total wealth” refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals living in each country. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities. We exclude government funds from our figures. Larger countries have an advantage due to higher populations.
SONY TO BECOME NO.1 MUSIC PUBLISHER WITH $2.3 BILLION EMI DEAL
Sony Corp. said on Tuesday it would pay about $2.3 billion to gain control of EMI, becoming the world’s biggest music publisher in an industry that has found new life in streaming services.
The acquisition, which gives Sony a catalogue of more than 2 million songs from artists such as Kanye West, Sam Smith and Sia, is the biggest so far by new chief executive officer (CEO) Kenichiro Yoshida.
The deal seeks to take advantage of the rapid growth in streaming music services like Spotify and Apple Music which has driven a recovery in the music industry.
It also fits in with Yoshida’s mission to make revenue streams more stable after his predecessor engineered a major turnaround that shifted the firm’s focus away from low-margin consumer electronics to entertainment content and image sensors.
SANFRANCISCO:Apple