Apple and Samsung’s long-standing patent dispute over alleged copying of the iPhone’s design is finally coming to an end. The two companies have settled the dispute that started way back in 2011 when Apple first accused Samsung of copying the iPhone’s design in their Galaxy smartphone. This news comes from a court filing from the U.S. District Court in Northern California. The exact terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the filing.
The last time we covered the dispute was when Samsung was ordered to pay Apple $539 million for copying the design of the iPhone. At that time, Apple was seeking $1 billion in damages. The $539 million was comprised of $533 million for violating design patents and $5.3 million for utility patent violations. This was after they had paid $399 million for patent infringement.
As mentioned above, we don’t know the exact terms of this settlement. Apple has been going hard at the South Korean giant for 7 years now. Samsung has been on the losing side of many decisions and they most likely will be paying even more in this settlement. After the last ruling, Samsung did not say if they planned to appeal the verdict. It would seem that they decided to settle this dispute once and for all. The two companies have not yet commented on this settlement.
Source: Reuters