Patent violations: Samsung ordered to pay $1b to Apple

SEOUL: South Korea’s Samsung Electronics said Saturday that it will contest a US court ruling that it must pay rival technology giant Apple damages of more than $1 billion for patent violations. “We will move immediately to file post-verdict motions to overturn this decision and if we are not successful, we will appeal this decision to the Court of Appeals,” Samsung said. Defeat in a bitter patent wrangle with Apple will dent Samsung Electronics’ $21 billion cash-pile. A US court has ordered Samsung – which sold around 50 million phones in April-June, almost twice the number of iphones – to pay $1.05 billion (1.5% of Samsung’s annual revenues) in damages. Phones and tablets business is the powerhouse behind Samsung’s growth, earning around 70% of total profit. But its skill as a ‘fast executioner’ – quick to match others’ innovations – would likely mean tweaked, non-patent infringing devices would be on the market soon after any ban came into place.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2012.