Samsung to pay $548M for infringing iPhone patents

Samsung is set to pay Apply more than $548 million as early as Dec. 14 for infringing its iPhone patents, Reuters reported. Despite this, the dispute in and out of the court between the two giants does not stop.

The payment stems from an August 2012 court case in which a nine-person jury said several Samsung handsets violated two of Apple's design and three of its utility patents. They initially awarded Apple damages of $1.049 billion. Apple sought as much as $2.71 billion in damages.

The damages were reduced on appeal to $548 million. More appeals are in the works including a Samsung appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court over of $399 million of the damages, Reuters reported. Samsung also hopes to get some of the Apple patents invalidated in proceedings at the U.S. patent office, it said.

It's not clear if the current payment includes damages from a separate case in May 2014. In that case an eight-person jury decided Samsung owes $119.6 million for infringing three Apple patents. It also said Apple owes Samsung $158,000 for infringing one of its patents.

Outside the courtroom, Apple and Samsung continue to go head-to-head in the market for smartphones and tablets with annual product releases aimed to leapfrog each other. Apple continues to use Samsung's foundry services, although it has reportedly given as much as half that business to TSMC.

Samsung opened in late September a new North American headquarters that towers over its low-slung neighbours in the heart of the San Jose high tech district in California. Across town in Cupertino, Apple is still constructing its new headquarters, a circular building with a mile-long circumference dubbed the spaceship.

- Rick Merritt
??EE Times U.S.