(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jun. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it has reached an agreement with Apple Inc. to settle the latest legal dispute surrounding alleged smartphone design infringement
“We cannot provide any details other than that we reached an agreement with Apple,” a source from Samsung Electronics said.
Samsung refrained from disclosing other details, including the amount of compensation provided to Apple.
Industry watchers said the settlement apparently came as the prolonged dispute became a burden for both companies. The conflict between Samsung and Apple surrounding the alleged design infringement started in 2011.
The U.S. company earlier claimed Samsung violated its designs, such as a “black rectangular front face with rounded corners,” a “rectangular front face with rounded corners and a raised rim” and a “grid of 16 colorful icons on a black screen.”
Last month, the U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, ruled against Samsung and ordered the company to pay Apple US$539 million for infringing on its design.
Samsung Electronics shortly afterwards called for a reconsideration of the ruling.
In 2015, Samsung Electronics compensated Apple with $548 million, with design infringement accounting for $390 million of the amount. Under last month’s ruling, Samsung had to pay an additional $140 million.
Apple claimed that Samsung raised $1 billion by selling smartphones that infringed on its design-related rights.
Samsung, however, claimed that the compensation should only take parts into consideration and not the entire smartphones.
The South Korean tech giant earlier claimed it “will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity and fair competition for all companies and consumers” concerning last month’s ruling.
(Yonhap)
