Samsung's Damages Decrease Slightly As Koh Sets Date For Injunction Hearing

Samsung took a pretty major blow when the jury in its patent case against Apple delivered their verdict today. Apple was awarded damages exceeding $1 billion, and even though that isn't as much as the iPhone maker was looking for, it's still a pretty hefty amount for Samsung to have to pay. However, after the verdict was delivered, there were a couple of inconsistencies the jury had to address. In their verdict, the jurors awarded Apple damages for the Samsung Intercept's infringement on the company's '915 utility patent, while it was also awarded damages for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G LTE's infringement on its '889 design patent. The only problem is the jury awarded these damages without actually finding that the devices were infringing on the patents in question.

That's pretty confusing to the outside observer, but it seems to be just an oversight on the jury's part – there were a ton of claims for the jury to wade through during deliberation, remember. After these two inconsistencies were brought to light, The Verge reports that the jury left the courtroom once more to decide if the two devices actually did infringe on the patents. The jurors were gone for nearly an hour before they returned to the courtroom, and when they came back, they had the tiniest smidgen of good news for Samsung.

The jury now states that the Intercept and Galaxy Tab 10.1 didn't infringe on those named patents, and that decision managed to shave around $2 million off the amount Samsung has to pay Apple. Now, instead of owing $1,051,885,000 to Apple, Samsung only owes $1,049,343,540. When we're talking about dollar amounts that already come in over $1 billion, saving an extra $2 million really doesn't amount to much. At this point, however, Samsung's lawyers are probably just happy that the devices aren't actually infringing on those Apple patents.

Now that the trial has come to a close, it's time for Apple and Samsung to file their post-trial motions. Apple has until August 29 – next Wednesday – to file, and Samsung will have 14 days after that to respond. Once Samsung has filed its response on September 12, Apple will have only two days to file a response of its own. This will all culminate with a preliminary injunction hearing on September 20. Stay tuned folks, because even though the trial is over, the fight between Apple and Samsung isn't finished yet.