Dec 14, 2016 10:00 AM EST By yasi bilangel, UniversityHerald Reporter

The Samsung vs. Apple patent is brought back by the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeal to decide if damages on patent infringement are based on the entire smartphone or just its components. This could mean that the $399 million dollars fine slapped on Samsung may be lowered since damages will now be based on value of components and not sales of the entire smarthpones with infringement issues.

Previously, Apple legally charged Samsung for infringement of its patent designs, namely, Apple's U.S. Design Patent referring to the black rectangular front face with rounded corners, raised rim and a grid of 16 colorful articles on a black screen. Samsung was then charged with $399 million dollars infringement damages based on the accounting of the profits by Samsung devices with infringement issues.

The award was affirmed by the Federal Circuit rejecting Samsung's claim that it should only pay for the value of the components it copied from Apple. However, Samsung brought its claim to the Supreme Court, raising the question on what encompasses damages to "articles of manufacture," whether these are entire smartphones or just its components.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling stating that the U.S. Patent Act Section 289 is broad enough to either include a product sold or a component whether sold as standalone or not according to Lexology. The SC ruling did not specifically indicate if Samsung should only pay Apple for the components it infringed as opposed to earlier accounting of damages based on the entire smartphone units sold.

Hence, the decision is now reverted back to the Court of Appeals to decide on, Live Law reported. It appears that the Samsung vs. Apple patent war may take a different route in terms of the amount of infringement damages Samsung needs to pay to Apple. There is a possibility that the $399 million dollars may be significantly lowered, a relief to the South Korean firm who is still recovering from the Note 7 fiasco.

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