Even though Apple and Samsung have agreed to drop all patent related litigation outside the U.S. their battles continue on Apple’s home turf. Both companies have shown no intention of backing down in this country even though there have been attempts to settle matters through mediation. In the second patent trial Apple claimed that Samsung had infringed on its patent that deals with autocomplete features, the jury believed it. However the USPTO has now come out with a report that reject several claims of Apple’s patent.
As a result of the jury siding with Apple in the second trial Samsung was slapped with a damages claim of nearly $120 million. Samsung argued the validity of Apple’s patent in the trial and in light of this new development it has submitted paperwork to Judge Lucy Koh saying that USPTO’s decision is “relevant to Samsung’s invalidity defenses” for this particular patent.
It merits mentioning here though that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s decision on patent No. 8,074,172 is not final. Apple has the right to provide additional information to retain its hold on the patent and this process could take months or even years. Moreover the USPTO’s preliminary ruling doesn’t change the judgment of infringement handed down in the second trial.
We’ll have to wait and see what position Judge Lucy Koh takes on this matter. Apple and Samsung have yet to comment on this but for now it seems that the battle rages on.