Samsung to Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court in Ongoing Patent Battle With Apple

Samsung is planning to take its ongoing patent war with Apple to the United States Surpreme Court, reports the San Jose Mercury News. In court papers filed today, Samsung said that by November it would ask the Supreme Court to hear its latest appeal.

"The questions present issues of enormous importance to patent litigation and the scope of innovation, especially in high-technology industries," Samsung's legal team wrote in a bid to hold off paying Apple hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for the patent violations.

Samsung's decision comes following a rejection from the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals last week, where the court refused Samsung's request for a new trial. Samsung had asked the court to reconsider a decision earlier this year that left the company on the hook for a $548 million payout to Apple.

applevsamsung
Samsung and Apple have been battling over patent infringement issues since 2012, when a jury ruled Samsung willfully violated several Apple patents, resulting in $1 billion in damages. Since then, Samsung has been fighting the ruling, and over the course of several appeals and a partial retrial, has gotten the damages reduced to the aforementioned $548 million total. If Samsung is successful, the Supreme Court could throw out another $400 million in damages.

Earlier this week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office invalidated a key iPhone design patent that was used in the Apple v. Samsung lawsuit, handing down a non-final rejection that Samsung could use in its appeal to the Supreme Court. Samsung also has the backing of technology companies like Facebook, Google, eBay, HP, and Dell, who have claimed the ruling against Samsung would "lead to absurd results and have a devastating impact on companies."

Samsung may, however, have difficulty getting the Supreme Court to hear its case. Of the thousands of cases that the Supreme Court is asked to review each year, it agrees to hear approximately 100 to 150.

Tag: Samsung

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
iPhone Car Key WWDC 2025

Apple Announces 13 Automakers Planning to Offer iPhone Car Keys

Friday June 27, 2025 11:42 am PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. During its WWDC 2025 keynote, Apple said that 13...
maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
anker power bank recall

PSA: Anker Recalls Multiple Power Banks Due to Fire Risk

Friday June 27, 2025 4:16 pm PDT by
Popular accessory maker Anker this month launched two separate recalls for its power banks, some of which may be a fire risk. The first recall affects Anker PowerCore 10000 Power Banks sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 in the United States. Anker says that these power banks have a "potential issue" with the battery inside, which can lead to overheating, melting of plastic...
Chase Sapphire Reserve Apple Perk Feature

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Introduces New Perk for Apple Customers

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Chase this week announced a series of new perks for its premium Sapphire Reserve credit card, and one of them is for a pair of Apple services. Specifically, the credit card now offers complimentary annual subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, a value of up to $250 per year. If you are already paying for Apple TV+ and/or Apple Music directly through Apple, those subscriptions will...
replay all time playlist apple music

Apple Music Debuts All-New Personalized Playlist

Monday June 30, 2025 7:16 am PDT by
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history. The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...

Top Rated Comments

Mlrollin91 Avatar
129 months ago
No way the Supreme Court is going to hear this. They review 100-150 cases a year and only rule on 60-70 cases a year. This is not a SCOTUS issue. Samsung should just quit before it costs them more than the fine.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Daalseth Avatar
129 months ago
Anything to drag this out. In another year when they've exhausted the SC avenue and the judgement stands they will find some other idea for appeal. In another three to five years when all of those are exhausted they will then drag out actually paying for a decade or more.

That's Samsung's business model: Steal litigate, drag it out, repeat.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
129 months ago
I sort of just wish they'd kiss and get all of this romantic tension out of the way.



And a few passion-filled months later, the sPhone 6S Edge was born unto the world.

Attachment Image
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Analog Kid Avatar
129 months ago
Sorry in advance for the length on this-- it's a response to two long posts that probably belong together...
I am merely pointing out Apple is in NO WAY innocent, it steals just the same.
Ok maybe you can relate to this more then, and as said the Swiss Railway Company threatened to take Apple to court and that's why Apple paid, Apple should have followed the law and asked them if they could use their design first. So don't try and twist it round.

Anyway, I'll use this example then ('http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-settles-with-creative-for-100-million-1/'): Apple copied creatives patented technology, creative sued them and won, and as the iPod sales were so important to Apple it just paid rather than risk iPod imports being banned.
So Apple stole patented technology, were sued, attempted to counter sue and lost on both accounts.

And Samsung is innocent, the patent Apple won with has been void, it no longer exists, with the case still going on with all these appeals then that needs to be taken into account.
Apple was only using the law to get Samsung products off the shelf to gain market share, it came up with rubbish reasons like they copied the colours black and white, they copied this basic sketch of a rectangle with round corners...

I can think of two devices that copied, the Galaxy 1 and the icon design for the new smart watch they have coming. I'm not talking about all the other patents.
I am just pointing out Apple is in no way innocent.
Or what about the Ericsson dispute, Ericsson are losing money to Apple because Apple refuses to pay them to license their technology that goes into every single cellular equipped iOS device. Everyone else pays them but not Apple, they want to twist the law to get a better deal, and refused to accept a fee decided by the courts which Ericsson offered to Apple.

The are stealing patented technology which is costing money to Ericcson because that's how Apple does business, and this has been going on for several months, so how many iOS devices have been sold in that time? Ericsson have 4 court cases lined up in 4 different countries if Apple doesn't settle by December. Apple has of course attempted to counter sue as it always does, but at the end of the day they are stealing Ericssons patented technology. In effect Apple is performing the very act they accuse Samsung of.
First, the lead story is about Samsung taking their case to the Supreme Court because they don't think they should have to pay their court ordered fine. Most of your arguments are either just noise and smoke to avoid discussing the subject, or essentially making the argument that "two wrongs make a right, neener, neener". I can't really tell which.

As far as my twisting things around, you'll have to explain how I'm doing that. You said Apple infringed and then paid fines. I'm agreeing. My point is simply that by giving a long list of times that Apple infringed, and paid their fines, is not helping your (implied) argument that Samsung should be let off the hook.

The one point you've made that may be relevant (almost by accident, it seems) is that the USPTO just issued a non-final ruling that D6'77 may not hold the priority date that they'd said it does. That's a reversal on the PTO's part, and possibly, but not necessarily, relevant. I suspect, by your characterization, that you haven't actually read the ruling. The patent has not been invalidated-- you can tell because the little check box "b[] This action is made FINAL" (sic) is not checked. It is merely a communication from USPTO saying that barring further arguments from Apple (and you know there will be some) they're moving towards invalidating the patent.

If you read the ruling, you will also see that USPTO indicates what remedies Apple may follow to retain their patent. Search for phrases in the ruling like, "the examiner suggests overcoming this rejection in one of the following ways", and "the rejection may be overcome by showing". PTO phrases their communication like an email that says "Let us know what you think. If we don't hear back, we'll assume you're ok with this and we'll just go ahead and gut your business. Have a good weekend." Lawyers, and geek lawyers in particular, aren't big on the warm fuzzies.

Other than that, Creative and Swiss Rail are arguments in favor of Samsung ponying up. Apple infringed and paid. The threat of court is meaningless in this context-- it's standard boilerplate in a legal letter.

Ericsson is fresh litigation. Contrary to your statements, Apple had been paying license fees until their agreement expired in January. They were unable to come to agreement on the next fee schedule. Ericsson took them to court rather than continuing negotiations (or as a way of continuing negotiations). If you have a patent in a pool required to implement an industry standard technology you are permitted a "fair and non-discriminitory" license fee. The fact that this went to court in no way says that Apple is in the wrong, nor does it say that Ericsson is. When the kids can't get along, they appeal to the parents to settle the dispute. When it is resolved, if Apple refuses to pay their license fees for the period between January and the final ruling, you'll have a point. Until then you're just slinging mud.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Fly (film) Avatar
129 months ago
Buddy bought an S5 recently and the water resistant trapdoor on the bottom of the charging port fell off after two days of use. I asked him did he get it fixed, he said no, they wouldn't fix it. He said they said it was a cosmetic issue, and they were not responsible. Junk company.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The Mad Hatter Avatar
129 months ago
One quick example, before people go all 'nuclear' on Samsung on here, perhaps I should remind you of this:



The trademarked clock owned by the Swiss Railway company that Apple STOLE and put into iOS, it then released said iOS update with the trademarked clock to the public and that was the first time the Swiss Railway Company knew Apple had stolen it.
The Swiss Railway Company then approached Apple who then paid 21 million $ for it's use, most likely to save embarrassment of removing the trademarked clock design they stole and because Apple was threatened with legal action.

Just showing that Apple steals too.
...But unlike Samsung, Apple paid up. They didn't keep taking the SRC to court repeatedly to get the fine down (or removed).
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)