The Supreme Court of the United States decided four months ago that it's going to hear Samsung's appeal against damages awarded to Apple in a patent infringement case due to which the Apple v. Samsung damages retrial that was due to begin in March this year was postponed indefinitely. The highest court in the land had only said that it's going to provide an opinion on the matter and didn't confirm a hearing date immediately. It has now blocked an official hearing date and will hear Samsung's appeal against Apple on October 11.
The apex court will provide its opinion on whether or not the penalties awarded to Apple in a California federal court case in which Samsung was found guilty of infringing on iPhone design patents were excessive. Samsung paid Apple $548 million in damages last December while reserving all rights to reclaim or obtain reimbursement of any amounts if the partial judgement was reversed, modified or set aside on appeal. Samsung's petition to the Supreme Court argues that damages in patent cases concerning complex devices like smartphones should only be based on patented components and not total profits from sales of the infringing devices. Apple is of the view that since its case against Samsung is “legally unexceptional” there's no need for the Supreme Court to review the matter. The US Supreme Court has released a scheduled of its October term sessions and has confirmed that Samsung's appeal against Apple will be heard on October 11.
