The smartphone industry is fiercely competitive, and Apple and Samsung are leaders in grappling to be the world’s number one. The two companies have been embroiled in a court case since 2011 when Apple accused Samsung of copying its design of the iPhone.
The dispute came to near-conclusion yesterday evening when the two rivals filed a joint statement with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, which said Samsung agrees to complete its $548 million settlement to Apple.
However, this is part of a bigger $1 billion payment that the South Korean company was ordered to pay in 2012.
The amount was reduced when Samsung appealed it and got split into two parts – $548 million for the technology patents Apple says it copied and $382 million for reportedly copying packaging as well.
Apple’s founder Steve Jobs is quoted in his biography by Walter Isaacson as saying:
I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go to thermonuclear war on this.
And it seems his wish is on the way to being fulfilled, albeit in a less dramatic sense. Samsung has agreed to pay the initial $548 million to Apple within 10 days of receiving an invoice, just four months before the case’s fifth anniversary. The second set of damages will be decided on by a jury in 2016.
➤ Samsung announces payment of $548 million to Apple but reserves right to seek reimbursement [FOSS Patents]
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.