US Supreme Court to settle Apple vs. Samsung once and for all

Apple and Samsung’s years-long struggle in the courts is now officially heading to the highest powers in the US. Apple has alleged that Samsung stole patented features for use in the manufacturing of their smartphones. These include physical features – such as having rounded corners and bezels around the edge of the screen – as well as software features – such as representing apps in a grid of icons. Now the US Supreme Court will be seeing the case starting this Tuesday.

Samsung has already been found guilty of copyright infringement in the US, and they were forced to pay Apple $548.2 million in December of last year in accordance with a verdict handed down in 2012. But Samsung claims that this fee is exorbitant. They claim that this is tantamount to an infringer of a patented cupholder being forced to pay the cupholder patent holder the entire profits on a car.

Apple believes the previous court findings were correct. They say that distinctive style is absolutely crux when it comes to the consumer decision making process, and that Samsung’s theft of their design sufficiently confused or misled enough people to damage their iPhone sales in accordance with the previously mentioned $548.2 million figure.

Samsung says that at absolute worst the verdict handed down should have been $399 million.

This court case is being watched closely by analysts, academics, and market researchers, because the Supreme Court’s final decisions could have far-reaching implications regarding technology patents. This will be the first time that the Supreme Court has seen a patent case in over 120 years. The final ruling will be due by the end of June 2017.

What are your thoughts regarding the final showdown between Apple and Samsung? If successful, will Apple be going after Google’s Pixel next? Let us know your take in the comments below!