Koh sets date for Apple v Samsung damages re-trial
Judge Lucy Koh has ruled that a jury trial will re-assess the level of damages that Samsung owes Apple for patent infringement in November 2013.
Koh, who is presiding over the smartphone makers’ US patent dispute, struck down $450 million of the $1.05 billion damages in March because the jury had calculated them incorrectly.
On Monday, the judge re-awarded Apple $40.5 million of the removed $450 million, meaning about $410 million will be re-assessed, from November 12 to 18. Eight jurors will rule on the trial, which will be based on the same evidence and legal theories as before.
The ruling means that the re-trial will address 13 infringing Samsung devices, rather than 14, because Koh removed one smartphone (along with the $40.5 million accounting for it) from her previous order. She refused to re-award Apple a further $44.8 million covering another product.
Apple must appoint a new damages expert, to replace the deceased Terry Musika, by May 13, 2013. There are further deadlines for both parties to file damages reports on before the trial begins.
The trial in November could produce the same level of damages as before but is unlikely to yield a higher penalty, “based on the tone of the judge’s order and her previous decision”, said Jim Kulbaski, partner at law firm Oblon Spivak in Virginia.
Before Koh’s order, Samsung had requested a partial final judgment – which would have allowed it to appeal against the entire case to the US Appeals for the Federal Circuit before the damages trial begun – but the judge said the case should be fully completed first.
Once the November trial is completed, Kulbaski said, Samsung will appeal to the US appeals court.
A separate dispute between the parties is set for March 2014, with Apple claiming that Samsung has infringed a number of patents directed to newer products than those in last year’s trial.
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