Apple Inc. was handed a mixed ruling by a US appeals court in the latest twist in a blockbuster intellectual property battle with Samsung, as a prior patent infringement verdict was upheld but a trademark finding that the iPhone's appearance could be protected was thrown out, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
That means up to 40 percent of a $930 million verdict which had been won by Apple must be reconsidered.
In the highly anticipated ruling stemming from the global smartphone wars, the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. upheld patent infringement violations including one which protects the shape and color of its iPhone as well as the damages awarded for those violations.
"This is a victory for design and those who respect it," Apple said in a statement on Monday. Samsung welcomed the court ruling regarding the trademark finding.
"We remain confident that our products do not infringe on Apple’s design patents and other intellectual property, and we will continue to take all appropriate measures to protect our products," it said in a statement.
Shares in Samsung climbed 2.6 percent in Seoul trading after the decision, beating the wider market's 0.6 percent gain.
The long-running dispute with Samsung dates back to when former Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs was still alive and was seen as emblematic of his tendency to fiercely defend the company's proprietary designs and technology from copies.
Although the opinion was mixed, it tilts strongly in Apple’s favor, upholding the bulk of its damages award and reinforcing the principles of design that the company sued to advance, said Brian Love, an assistant professor of law at the University of Santa Clara.
“They made this argument from the beginning of the case that they were sort of the true innovators in the smartphone world, and that although a lot of this technology existed in the past, they came up with very simple, elegant and easy-to-use design that took the smartphone to the next level,” he said. “To the extent that it was protected, it was protected by these design patents.”
Apple was eventually awarded $930 million in damages, but failed to win a ban on the sale of the infringing Samsung phones, which are now no longer on the market. The appeals court further muddied the waters for Apple by ordering the court in San Jose to reconsider the $382 million portion awarded for trade dress dilution.
Since the 2012 trial, Samsung and Apple have mostly dropped their legal battles, except for another case pending in the same appeals court involving a $120 million verdict in 2014 for Apple on separate smartphone patents.
