Tech companies backing Samsung in patent battle with Apple

The patent battle between Apple and Samsung has resurfaced thanks to a new amicus filing by some of the tech industries heavyweights who are lining up behind Samsung. In the friend of the court briefing, companies like Google, HP, Facebook and others, make an argument we have heard from Samsung in the past.

Although Samsung lost in the courtroom to Apple which accused Samsung of infringing several iPhone related patents, the companies have continued to fight at the appellate level over the appropriateness of decision and the amount of damages. Samsung has achieved some success in whittling the $1 billion judgment down $548 million. Samsung is trying to get that reduced even more by challenging the appropriateness of giving up all profits from the sale of devices that were found to infringe.

In the amicus filing, the tech companies argue that,

“That feature — a result of a few lines out of millions of code — may appear only during a particular use of the product, on one screen display among hundreds. But the panel’s decision could allow the owner of the design patent to receive all profits generated by the product or platform, even if the infringing element was largely insignificant to the user.”

The end result of even the smallest infringement out of a totality of ideas and concepts that go into a product would be the stifling of innovation and the likelihood that every company would infringe some patent in some manner the companies claim. The effect would be “devastating” on companies.

source: The Verge

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