Judge halves Apple's $1 billion patent award

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Judge halves Apple's $1 billion patent award

A district court judge has suggested that the $1 billion damages Samsung owes Apple for infringing Smartphone patents should be reduced by $450 million

judge20koh.jpg

On Friday, Judge Lucy Koh of the District Court for the Northern District of California ordered a new jury trial. In the order, she said the damages Apple was awarded by a jury last August were based on “a theory that the court had ruled legally impermissible”.

The ruling highlights controversy over the appropriate role of juries in patent cases.

In the new trial, the jury will only reconsider the level of damages. The original verdict – that Samsung’s Galaxy SII phone infringed Apple’s patents relating to the iPhone and iPad – will still stand. Koh made the order following requests from Samsung for lower damages and Apple for higher damages.

Apple also suffered a setback in another case last week. A district judge in Texas upheld a $368.2 million jury verdict from last year, for Apple’s infringement of four patents owned by patent holding company VirnetX. Apple was ruled to have infringed the patents in its VPN on Demand and FaceTime apps.

Judge Leonard Davis also ordered Apple to pay VirnetX over $363,000 per day in interest and damages until the parties reach a licensing agreement. The parties must reach an agreement within 45 days.



more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

IP leaders at Brandsmiths and Bird & Bird, who were on opposing sides at the UK Supreme Court in Iconix v Dream Pairs, unpick the landmark case and its ramifications
Magdalena Bonde discusses Abion’s AI experiments and reveals why an entrepreneurial mindset and a willingness to learn about a business are essential skills
Partner Ginevra Righini explains how she secured victory for the Comité Champagne in its fight against an EUTM application for ‘Nero Champagne’
Volkan Hamamcıoğlu joins us for our ‘Five minutes with’ series to discuss meditation, tackling deadlines, and taking inspiration from Hamlet
A $110 million US verdict against Apple and an appellate order staying a $39 million trademark infringement finding against Amazon were also among the top talking points
Attorneys are watching how AI affects trademark registrations and whether a SCOTUS ruling from last year will have broader free speech implications
Patent lawyers explain why they will be keeping an eye on the implications of a pharma case and on changes at the USPTO in the second half of 2025
The insensitive reaction to a UK politician crying on TV proves we have a long way to go before we can say we are tackling workplace wellbeing
Adrian Percer says he was impressed by the firm’s work on billion-dollar cases as well as its culture
In our latest interview with women IP leaders, Catherine Bonner at Murgitroyd discusses technology, training, and teaching
Gift this article