Mikey Campbell
Samsung on Wednesday filed a motion to stay the Apple v. Samsung damages retrial on the grounds of a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office action that found one of the patents-in-suit invalid.
The emergency motion to halt the proceedings follows a USPTO advisory action also issued on Wednesday, in which the examiner of Apple's U.S. Patent No. 7,844,915, or the '915 patent, found all claims of the property invalid.
From Samsung's motion:
This decision by the PTO jeopardizes the jury's findings in the damages trial and may render all of the post-trial proceedings a waste of time and resources.
The Korean company proposed a stay of the current damages retrial, or a stay after the jury has reached a verdict. Earlier this week, both parties rested their respective cases and presented closing arguments, leaving the six-woman, two-man jury to deliberate.
Apple is seeking some $380 million in lost profits, Samsung's profits gained and royalties for 13 devices infringing five patents. U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh in March vacated $450 million from the Apple v. Samsung jury's award of $1.05 billion after finding errors in damages calculations.
The '915 patent is a major part of the trial as it is the only patent Apple has in play for lost profits. The Cupertino company complied with a pretrial order not to bring the other four properties up for lost profits arguments, which is pegged at $114 million.
Judge Koh, who has already refused Samsung's original motion to stay over this very patent, said she will not rule on Samsung's motion today, and will instead focus on jury questions pertaining to its final decision.
As of this writing, the jury is reviewing testimony from Apple expert witness Julie Davis, who calculated the $380 million damages figure. According to tweets from reporter Julia Love of The Recorder, Apple has been given one day to respond to the motion to stay.
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39 Comments
And this, like the invalidation of multitouch, will be overturned. Simple.
Bend over and take it, Samsung. I hope the jury forces you to pay another billion extra.
Such a coincidence.. That the patent was invalidated at this point in time. Is samscum now resorting to bribery - paying off certain figures within the USPTO?
Pay the money Samsung, and if the patent finally does become invalid then Apple can pay you back. Getting sick of all your "drama".
According to Florian Mueller, since the trial has basically already happened, he think that Judge Koh will go ahead and let the jury continue deliberating. That way, if the patent is eventually upheld, then they don't need to have a "re-do" of the damages trial. If it is overturned, then the court can simply invalidate the judgment.
Apparently the patent appeals process can last until 2017.
Why does the patent office keep changing? Approved, invalid, approved, invalid. The appeals court just ruled that Apple can go ahead and get Samsung products banned from the US with this same patent as part of that case. I think the patent office should only be able to invalidate a patent once and if it is overturned then that patent should be valid and no other challenges can be made once overturned. Apple has proved several times already of the validity of that patent. Who's getting paid off to keep changing in the patent office. It seems very fishy to me especially in light of the case that just went to the jury and also the other case involving the appeals court that just ruled in Apple's favor as well.