Supreme Court Unanimously Bails Out Samsung

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that this is a clear case. She literally pulled out the dictionary.

Samsung Discontinues Production And Sale Of Defective Galaxy Note 7Samsung is still alive. They copied the iPhone to make very popular alternatives that eventually exploded. Huge judgments have been entered against them. But, somehow, they’re still alive. Remember this when they release their Android: Terminator “internet of things” line of products.

Samsung scored a major victory today, when the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Samsung did not have to pay Apple all of its profits from infringing on the design of the iPhone.

Samsung Electronics Co. v. Apple is the first design patent case the Court has taken in ages. Samsung admits to infringing on Apple’s “signature look” of the iPhone. But Samsung says it should not have to pay all of the profits it earned from sale of the infringing phones, because the design was just one component in a complex machine.

The phrase at issue is whether an “article of manufacture,” for determining damages in an infringement case, can mean a component part, or whether it means the final product sold to consumers. Apple argued that “article of manufacture” in this context refers to the entire phone, meaning that Samsung should disgorge all of its profits. In contrast, Samsung argued that “article of manufacture” can refer to just components, and so it should have to disgorge only those profits attributable to its infringement on design (one component among many in a phone).

Writing for the unanimous Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that this is a clear case. She literally pulled out the dictionary:

The text resolves this case. The term “article of manufacture,” as used in §289, encompasses both a product sold to a consumer and a component of that product. “Article of manufacture” has a broad meaning.

An “article” is just “a particular thing.” J. Stormonth, A Dictionary of the English Language 53 (1885) (Stormonth); see also American Heritage Dictionary, at 101 (“[a]n individual thing or element of a class; a particular object or item”). And “manufacture” means “the conversion of raw materials by the hand, or by machinery, into articles suitable for the use of man” and “the articles so made.” Stormonth 589; see also American Heritage Dictionary, at 1070 (“[t]he act, craft, or process of manufacturing products, especially on a large scale” or “[a] product that is manufactured”). An article of manufacture, then, is simply a thing made by hand or machine.

So understood, the term “article of manufacture” is broad enough to encompass both a product sold to a consumer as well as a component of that product. A component of a product, no less than the product itself, is a thing made by hand or machine. That a component may be integrated into a larger product, in other words, does not put it outside the category of articles of manufacture.

Samsung wants to get back $399 million of the $538 million it has already paid Apple for infringing on Apple’s patents. The Supreme Court did not say how much Samsung should get back; instead, the Court remanded, sending that issue back down to the lower courts to decide.

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The Washington Post reports that this is the first design patent case that the Supreme Court has taken in 120 years. The implications of this case are likely to reverberate beyond the telecom industry. Amicus briefs were filed on behalf of Apple’s position from top fashion designers. I’m sure that there are some people on Canal Street reveling in this decision.

Samsung lives to fight another day. I can’t wait to check out SamTunes Music, which I assume will just be Michael Bolton doing covers of any song that you download.

Samsung Electronics Co. v. Apple [U.S. Supreme Court]
Supreme Court rules for Samsung in smartphone fight with Apple [Washington Post]


Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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