On Thursday, legal representatives for the bitter smartphone rivals appeared before the three-juror panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to battle it out over the $930 million imposed by U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California judge Lucy Koh on Samsung for infringing upon a number of Apple's patents.
Kathleen Sullivan, one of the attorneys representing Samsung, tells the court that awarding Apple with Samsung's total profits gained from selling the phones that infringed upon certain Apple patents is overkill. Sullivan likens it to awarding the entire profits of a car just because of a cup holder that infringed on the copyright of another car maker.
"Apple was awarded Samsung's total profits on those phones, which was absurd," Sullivan says. Sullivan also says the district court erred in ruling that Samsung infringed upon Apple's design patents because the Samsung phones involved did not display the Apple logo, did not have a home button that look like the button on the iPhone and had speakers that were put in different places.
Naturally, Apple says that Samsung's argument is pointless, with Apple attorney William Lee of Wilmer Hale law firm saying, "This is not the cup holder."
"What Samsung is actually asking you to do... is substitute yourself for Judge Koh and the jury," Lee says.
While the three judges questioned both parties, the Wall Street Journal says the panel directed more questions at Sullivan, possibly because Samsung faced the burden of proving its arguments against an established court decision. Still, Lee also received his fair share of questions from the jurors, particularly over a $382 million chunk of the $930 million fine awarded over infringements in the iPhone's design.
The jurors did not indicate the direction of their decision or when a decision will be made, but the questions directed at Lee suggest that the panel could be considering minimizing the fine by $382 million.
Apple and Samsung have been at each other's throats with accusations of patent infringements, filing cases against each other in several countries around the world. In August, however, both companies agreed to withdraw their legal charges in all countries except the United States, but it is clear the leading smartphone companies are not about to give up their fight for dominance, both in court and on the market.
