Judge Koh Reduces Damages Samsung Must Pay Apple by $440 Million

Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the Apple v. Samsung case in which a jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion last August, has reduced the amount Samsung must pay by $450 million.

According to Foss Patents, the judge also is requiring a new damages trial:

“The $450 million amount corresponds to 14 Samsung products, with respect to which a new damages trial must be held because the court cannot make the adjustments it deems necessary for legal reasons: the jury set only one damages figure per product, but half a dozen different intellectual property rights were found infringed, resulting in a lack of clarity as to what portion of a per-product damages figure is attributable to a given intellectual property right.”

Judge Koh wrote in her ruling:

“Because the Court has identified an impermissible legal theory on which the jury based its award, and cannot reasonably calculate the amount of excess while effectuating the intent of the jury, the Court hereby orders a new trial on damages for the following products: Galaxy Prevail, Gem, Indulge, Infuse 4G, Galaxy SII AT&T, Captivate, Continuum, Droid Charge, Epic 4G, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Tab, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, and Transform.”

Standford Law School professor Mark A. Lemley offered his perspective on Judge Koh’s ruling in an email to Bloomberg:

“This is an extremely careful and thorough opinion on a very difficult and interrelated set of issues. Samsung will get some reduction in the award, but almost certainly less than $450 million — we’ll need a new trial to figure that out.”

According to All Things D, Samsung praised Judge Koh’s decision:

“We are also pleased that the court earlier found that Samsung had not acted willfully, denied Apple’s request for a permanent injunction, and denied Apple’s motion for increased damages.”

The new trial will also require a new jury.