Apple admits to flaw in patent suit

By Kim Yoo-chul

Apple has admitted to a “double-patent” on one special technology that was used to earn a big reward in a jury verdict against Samsung in August, a German technology blogger said Wednesday.

Florian Mueller of FossPatents said that Apple officially filed a “terminal disclaimer” for patent D618,677 (D’677) — which the jury ruled Samsung had violated in 12 of its phones.

This is the first time that Apple has stepped back in its patent war against the Korean technology firm, officials said, Wednesday. Samsung spokesman Park Han-yong said the company’s legal representatives were checking out Apple’s change in strategy.

In its filing, Apple said U.S. Patent No. D618,677 was invalid because it was doubly patented with U.S. Patent No. D593,087 (D’087), something that Samsung had claimed.

Samsung Electronics has consistently been arguing that D’087 and D’677 were too similar to be granted as separate patents.

“This means that Apple wouldn’t have extended the term of its design monopoly by filing two different patent applications, at different times and therefore with different expiration dates, on essentially the same invention,” the German-based patent expert Mueller wrote his blog.

Now, attention is being shifted to whether the U.S. Federal Judge Lucy Koh, who will rule on the verdict on Dec. 6, will accept this and how it will affect her decision.

If the D’677 invalidity is accepted by Koh, the $1.05 billion damages imposed could be cut in half, said the patent expert. “Samsung will want to get $520 million in damages vacated until there is a new damages award by a court or a jury,” Mueller said.

“A new award could theoretically be even higher than what Apple won last time, but it could also be much less,” he said. “A new damages trial would be a gamble for both parties. But since Apple won so much last time, it stands to lose more at this stage.”

Experts say the filing will have a positive effect on Samsung Electronics’ shares. Market analysts said an adjustment is highly likely by Koh.

“Our research team is talking to Samsung and Samsung’s legal sources to find out Apple’s new legal strategies. But the filing is good in terms of investors’ sentiment,” said Lee Sun-tae, an analyst at NH Securities.