Samsung takes patent battle with Apple to US Supreme Court

Samsung has decided to take to the United States Supreme Court its patent battle with Apple, going back on a days-old deal to pay the iPhone maker $548m (£361m) to settle a case that has dragged since 2012. The original jury award was for more than $1bn in damages.

Samsung has asked the highest court in America to consider a review of the verdict passed by a jury in the US District Court for the Northern District of California last year. Samsung had previously expressed its disappointment over the verdict saying: "We are disappointed by today's decision, which is based in large part on a patent that the US Patent and Trademark Office has recently deemed invalid."

Should the case be taken up by the US Supreme Court, some believe it might result in a drastic change in the technology industry. Other technology firms like Facebook and Google have stood in support of the argument that unless the current verdict is reversed, there will be growing fear of legal challenges when introducing a new product into the market.

Ironically, the last patent cases the Supreme Court chose to oversee were in the 1800's. Those cases dealt with designs of saddles, carpets and spoon handles. There is uncertainty about how existing laws can cover design of a technological product.

"Samsung is escalating this case because it believes that the way the laws were interpreted is not in line with modern times. If the current legal precedent stands, it could diminish innovation, stifle competition, pave the way for design patent troll litigation, and negatively impact the economy and consumers."

Although both Apple and Samsung seem to have come to an agreement on burying the hatchet for most of their overseas legal cases, the courtroom drama in the US, it seems, will go on.