A federal judge seems likely to cut Apple's $1 billion jury verdict for the company won over Samsung Electronics in a patent infringement trial.
"I think it's time for global peace," U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh told lawyers for the two electronics giants, in a court hearing Thursday in San Jose, the Associated Press reported.
Koh is reviewing the $1.05 billion award and seems likely to cut some of the cash, such as the $58 million award for using Apple's "tap-and-zoom" technology on Samsung's Prevail smartphone. Koh said that the patent violation doesn't merit such a high cost, and it would likely be about $8 million.
Koh's review isn't about patent violation, simply that the cash award was too high for the violation. This means the judge could drop the award by hundreds of millions of dollars. This is a great idea to Samsung, whose lawyers have been arguing the award was too high and should be reduced by half. Samsung is also asking for a new trial and for the judge to erase any previous decision.
Of course, Apple lawyers are fighting any cuts, saying that they deserve more money and the judge should ban the sales of eight Samsung smartphones.
Koh, however, isn't letting on what she plans to do and isn't taking sides -- she is a judge after all -- but whatever her decision, it will be an important one but perhaps not permanent. Legal analysts believe that whichever way she rules, her judgment will be appealed and possibly sent all the way to the Supreme Court.
