Samsung reluctantly agrees to pay Apple $548 million, but will take it back if they can
It seems like this Samsung vs Apple patent spat has been going on for decades, but it’s really only been five years. That said, it seems even Samsung is getting tired of it as they have finally agreed to pay the $548 million they owe to the Cupertino company. That figure was bloated by nearly double in the initial ruling — with Samsung originally ordered to pay more than $1 billion — but was later brought down after reassessing the damages and the amount of infringement that was said to take place.
That said, this payment agreement was made with some very interesting clauses. Samsung’s side of it states that while they’re willing to make the cash payment to get Apple off their backs, they’ll reserve the right to a reimbursement in the event that new developments, appeals processes or any other significant change in the case happens. Here’s the statement in full:
“Samsung continues to reserve all rights to obtain reimbursement from Apple and/or payment by Apple of all amounts required to be paid as taxes. […] Samsung further reserves all rights to reclaim or obtain reimbursement of any judgment amounts paid by Samsung to any entity in the event the partial judgment is reversed, modified, vacated or set aside on appeal or otherwise, including as a result of any proceedings before the USPTO addressing the patents at issue or as a result of any petition for writ of certiorari filed with the Supreme Court. Samsung notes that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board has issued a final decision of invalidity on the ‘915 Patent, and Apple filed a notice of appeal to the Federal Circuit in the USPTO last week.”
For Apple’s part, while they presented this statement to the courts in joint efforts with Samsung, the Cupertino company still has questions about the validity of the cause. They wrote as much in their own section of the statement, noting that Apple “disputes Samsung’s asserted rights to reimbursement.”
So, what does this all mean? It doesn’t mean Samsung is giving up — in fact, the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on a settlement as soon as 2 days ago — but it does put into motion the process of paying these significant fines in the event that the courts don’t significantly advance the case. It doesn’t appear they will, though, because Samsung has been fighting this thing for more than 5 years now, and all of the appeals in the world haven’t seemed to help (beyond making it sting a little less on Samsung’s wallet) to this point.
[via FoSS Patents]