Samsung requests en banc review in Apple design war

Samsung has requested an en banc review of a US appeals court’s decision that confirmed the company did infringe several of Apple’s design patents.

The South Korean company lodged the appeal on Wednesday, June 17, arguing that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has to address whether Samsung should be liable for infringing the entire patents when, it argues, some of the protected designs are functional.

Samsung has asked the court to reconsider the damages award of $548 million it is facing.

Its requests follow the federal circuit’s decision last month to partially uphold a ruling from the US District Court for the Northern District of California in 2012.

The court had said, among other things, that Samsung infringed three design patents covering the front face and user interface of the iPhone and diluted Apple’s trade dress, awarding $930 million in damages.

Samsung has argued that these patents are invalid.

But the appeals court removed $382 million from the total damages award as it said Samsung had not infringed the trade dress. The federal circuit vacated that portion and asked the district court to review the trade dress aspect of the case again.

Of the remaining $548 million the federal circuit found Samsung liable for, $399 million covers the profits made from products found to have infringed the design patents.

According to a court document: “Apple’s design patents claim only partial, minor features of such devices and ... some attributes of those designs are functional.

“Both holdings warrant en banc review, for they conflict with precedent, create confusion, and raise the prospect that a design patent, alone among all species of IP, will allow its holder to leverage its patent for competitive gain,” the document added.

Apple had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication, but we will update the story should the company get in touch.