Samsung to appeal against 'grossly exaggerated' Apple ruling

Samsung has confirmed that it will appeal against a decision in which it was ordered to pay “on-going” royalties to rival Apple following a patent infringement trial.

In a statement sent to WIPR, the South Korean smartphone maker confirmed media reports that it would be appealing against the decision.

A spokesman said: "We have already filed an appeal and will continue to take all necessary legal measures to protect against Apple's grossly exaggerated damages claim.”

Yesterday (November 25), WIPR reported that following a decision at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Apple was granted post-judgment royalties on any future sales of Samsung models that were deemed to have infringed three patents.

The patents are US numbers 5,946,647 and 8,046,721, which cover the ‘slide-to-unlock’ feature as well as a system for adding menus to items including phone numbers and email addresses, and number 8,074,172, which centre on predictive text input.

Samsung was found to have infringed the patents during a trial that was finalised in May this year.  
California-based Apple was subsequently awarded $119 million in damages.

The most recent judgment does not include an exact royalty amount and will only relate to products included in the initial trial.

To be entitled to the royalties, Apple would have to prove Samsung has continued to sell offending devices since the judgment.

Samsung added: “We would like to assure American consumers that this ruling will not affect the availability of our products in the US market.”