Another patent battle between Samsung and Apple has been fought out in a California court over the past three days, and a verdict has arrived. The South Korean company has been forced to pay Apple $119.6 million dollars for being found guilty of violating two patents related to smartphone features, according to The Verge.
Additionally, Apple was found to have infringed upon one of Samsung's patents as well, and will also be forced to pay its competitor. That amount is much smaller than the many millions Samsung will be paying, though, owing just $158,400. The payout Apple was awarded is significantly less than the electronics giant was originally seeking.
Samsung was found to have infringed on two of the five patents Apple claimed had been violated, the '647 and '721 documents. The features covered in these patents that Samsung was accused of copying relate to turning addressed and phone numbers in smartphone text into clickable links, and the 'slide to unlock' capability.
Apple was looking for $2.191 billion in damages from Samsung for infringing on these patents, making the money they were ultimately awarded insignificant in comparison. It will, though, help Apple protect its features better in the future, knowing these cases will likely continue to go in its favor. Samsung will have to be more careful with features that share similarities to those found on iPhones, too, which Apple will be pleased with.
"We are grateful to the jury and the court for their service. Today's ruling reinforces what courts around the world have already found: that Samsung willfully stole our ideas and copied our products," Apple said in a statement.
"We are fighting to defend the hard work that goes into beloved products like the iPhone, which our employees devote their lives to designing and delivering for our customers."
