Sorry, Samsung: Apple wins patent tussle

New York: US-based tech giant Apple has emerged victorious over Samsung in their tussle over the former’s ‘slide-to-unlock’ patent, due to which Samsung has been directed to pay USD 120 million to the iPhone maker.

Apart from the slide-to-unlock patent, the case also involved the quick links patent, which covered software that automatically turned information like a phone number into an accessible link. Samsung was found to have infringed both patents. The ruling was overturned almost two years later, and then reinstated once again less than a year after that. From there, Samsung appealed to the Supreme Court, which is where the case met its end today, reports The Verge.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stated that it wouldn’t hear an appeal of the patent infringement case, first decided in 2014, which has been transferred through appeals courts in the years since.

While Apple did not comment on its victory, Samsung in a statement said the court should hear the case “to reinstate fair standards that promote innovation and prevent abuse of the patent system”. While this battle has reached its closure, the two rivals will lock horns once again in a lawsuit that originally gave Apple a USD 1 billion win against Samsung.