Samsung takes its patent war with Apple to Supreme Court

Less than a couple of weeks after Samsung agreed to pay Apple $548 million to settle their yearslong patent legal case, the South Korean company has taken the battle to the US Supreme Court, asking for a re-examination of the decisions made in the case so far.

"While Samsung prefers to compete in the marketplace, not the courtroom, the company feels that it is important to appeal this case to the US Supreme Court on behalf of all US companies, big and small, that could be affected if this legal precedent stands," Samsung said in a statement.

The company, in its appeal, is arguing that unlike cases related to utility patents (that cover how a product functions), the jury isn't given all the details on how to understand the patents when dealing with design patent-related cases.

Not only this, Samsung is also questioning the way damages are calculated in these cases, noting that in certain scenarios a convicted company can even be made to pay the entirety of its profits multiple times.

"Samsung is escalating this case because it believes that the way the laws were interpreted is not in line with modern times," it said in a statement. "If the current legal precedent stands, it could diminish innovation, stifle competition, pave the way for design patent troll litigation and negatively impact the economy and consumers."

It's worth mentioning that several other tech giants including Google, Facebook and eBay have also filed a supporting brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, saying that the recent ruling against Samsung, if left to stand, would "lead to absurd results and have a devastating impact on companies."

The Supreme Court is yet to decide whether or not to take up the case - it hasn't taken up any design patent-related case since the 1800s.

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