Supreme Court’s First Design Patent Case In 100 Years

The Supreme Court this week will hear Apple v. Samsung, its first design patent lawsuit in more than a century. The Court will consider how damages are calculated in such cases. The case, filed in 2011, pits the world’s two largest phone makers against each other. Lower courts ruled in favor of Apple. Of the nearly $1 billion in damages awarded, $400 million was from design patents. Samsung will argue that Apple shouldn’t be allowed to get all of its’ profits from infringing devices, though that has been the interpretation of patent law for years.