US District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who has presided over both of the previous Apple vs Samsung juried trials (and one prior damages retrial), has set a date in either March or April of next year for the second damages retrial stemming from the first patent trial, brought on by a decision from the Federal Court of Appeals. That first patent trial’s original $1.05 billion judgement against Samsung has been steadily whittled down through appeals, and is now approximately half its original amount.
Though Samsung has been successful at gradually reducing the penalty from its original conviction on patent infringement through a combination of appeals and patent challenges that have undermined Apple’s original case, it is reaching near the end of its legal rope on potential ways to avoid paying Apple some final amount for its infringement. To date it has yet to pay a penny to Apple, though it has borne enormous legal costs in pursing its barrage of appeals.
In addition to the new damages retrial — which may further reduce the $548 million Samsung still owes Apple — the Korean manufacturer is seeking an appeal to the Supreme Court over the the verdict of the first patent trial, which found it guilty of copying and infringing Apple trade and design patents. This new damages retrial will re-assess some $399 million of that $548 million penalty. Judge Koh has already had to bar Samsung from trying to entertain new theories in the upcoming trial, and blocked both Apple and Samsung from filing any new briefs after Samsung began filing new objections, motions, and calls for a judgement as a matter of law (JMOL) on the entire proceeding, which Apple then tried to answer.
The judge has made clear that she expects the damages retrial to last not longer than seven working days. The $399 million in damages are for infringing products that Samsung has long since discontinued due to the amount of time the legal proceedings have taken, but the fact that the company is no longer benefitting from its theft of Apple design and technology patents does not weaken the original findings of guilt.
The two sides have until September 11 to file joint case-management statements, and will meet in court on the 16th for a conference with the judge about how the trial will be managed.
