In 'surprise' ruling, full appeals court reinstates Apple's $119.6M infringement award
A federal appeals court has reinstated a $119.6 million award to Apple in its infringement battle against Samsung over smartphone technology.
In an en banc decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reinstated the award for infringement of Apple technology for sliding to unlock the phone; automatic corrections, and quick links to detected phone numbers, addresses and dates. Reuters and Bloomberg News have stories, while How Appealing links to the 8-3 decision.
The full appeals court said a three-judge panel that overturned the award had wrongly relied on information outside the trial record and issues that weren’t raised in the appeal. Three dissenting judges had made up the original three-judge panel in the case.
“The opinion was a surprise,” Bloomberg reports, because “the court never announced that it would consider the case before all active judges prior to issuing the opinion. “
How Appealing labels the majority opinion “a stinging rebuke” of the means the three-judge panel used to reverse the award.
Another infringement case between Apple and Samsung concerning other smartphone design features is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
