Samsung plans to drag Apple to the Supreme Court, as the patent war continues

The long running patent battle between Apple and Samsung looks to be escalating one step further, as the Korean technology giant has applied to have its latest appeal heard at the US Supreme Court, following a rejection at the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year.

Samsung is looking to have the amount of damages that it has to pay out to Apple further reduced, or preferably completely thrown out. Originally, Samsung had been ordered to pay Apple $1.05 billion in damages after being found to have infringed on a number of Apple’s smartphone patents. This amount has already been reduced by a few hundred million, after Judge Lucy Koh agreed with Samsung that the jury had made some calculation errors.

Samsung has seen some further overall reductions in the total amount that it has to pay to Apple, after both sides have won numerous smaller cases and appeals. Samsung has around $548 million still left to pay from the first trial. The Korean tech company recently asked the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to bring in additional judges to relook at the case, but this was denied, leaving the Supreme Court is Samsung’s only remaining option

Following the most recent decision, a large number of technology companies came out in support of a rehearing for Samsung. While these squabbles may seem petty from the outside, the nature of Apple’s patents and the case could have far reaching implications for other innovative technology companies in the US and around the world. Silicon Valley giants, such as Facebook and Google, are likely to urge the court to re-examine the case, as they are worried about the suit setting precedents.

Samsung filed papers to have its case heard on Wednesday, but the court will have until the end of next June to decide if it wants to become involved in the dispute. Until then, Apple will just have to wait to see if it is entitled to any further monies.