Samsung appeals patent dispute with Apple and wins

Apple and Samsung have been battling it out for years. Apple has claimed time and again that Samsung has infringed on their patents.

Apple had won the battle, winning $120 million in the latest case; however, they didn't win the war. Samsung appealed and got the entire verdict overturned.

The '647 patent was about turning software "structures" into links. An example is when someone types an address or a phone number, the user can click the link that it turns into and the it will open Phone or Maps, respectively.

As it turned out, "Apple failed to prove, as a matter of law, that the accused Samsung products use an 'analyzer server' as we have previously construed that term." This overturned $98.7 million of the total $120 million.

Another $3 million was the infamous "slide to unlock" patent. The appeals court ruled that this was invalid due to prior art.

The following graphic is from 1992, when a feature similar to "slide to unlock" was originally conceived.

The third and final patent regards autocorrect. This was also rendered invalid due to prior art. As with many of Apple's patent arguments, the firm didn't claim to invent the feature but they claim that Samsung implemented it in the same way.

With an iPhone, autocorrect works when the user hits 'space'. Samsung phones would correct as the user was typing.

Samsung responded with a counter-suit, claiming that Apple had infringed on two of their patents, winning one of them. Samsung was awarded $158,400.

Samsung issued the following statement:

We are delighted with the resounding victory from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which found that two of Apple’s patents should never have been issued.

We have spent decades developing some of the most revolutionary products and services in the technology industry, and today’s decision proves that we did not infringe on any of Apple’s patents.

Today’s decision is a win for consumer choice and puts competition back where it belongs – in the marketplace, not in the courtroom.

Source: Ars Technica