Apple Inc has asked for a court order for a permanent U.S. sales ban on
Samsung Electronics products alleged to have violated its patents along
with additional damages of $707 million on top of the billion-dollar
verdict won by the iPhone maker last month.
Samsung has responded by asking for a new trial.
The
world's top two smartphone makers are locked in patent battles in 10
countries as they vie for top spot in the lucrative, fast-growing
market.
Apple scored a legal victory over Samsung in late August
when a U.S. jury found that the Korean firm had copied critical features
of the iPhone and awarded the U.S. firm $1.05 billion in damages.
In
a motion filed late Friday U.S. time, Apple sought a further $400
million damage award for design infringement by Samsung; $135 million
for willful infringement of its utility patents; $121 million in
supplemental damages based on Samsung's product sales not covered in the
jury's deliberation; and $50 million of prejudgment interest on damages
through December 31. The requests together come to $707 million.
Apple
wants the injunction to cover "any of the infringing products or any
other product with a feature or features not more than colorably
different from any of the infringing feature or features in any of the
Infringing Products."
Such a wide-ranging sales ban could result
in the extension of the injunction to cover Samsung's brand-new Galaxy S
III smartphone.
'Rectangles with rounded corners'
Samsung, in a filing to the U.S. court, asked for a new trial to be held.
"The
Court's constraints on trial time, witnesses and exhibits were
unprecedented for a patent case of this complexity and magnitude, and
prevented Samsung from presenting a full and fair case in response to
Apple's many claims," Samsung said.
"Samsung therefore
respectfully requests that the Court grant a new trial enabling adequate
time and even-handed treatment of the parties."
In a separate
statement, Samsung lamented the fact that patent rulings should cover
issues such as the shape of the product in addition to technological
points.
"It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to
give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or
technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other
companies," it said.
The Korean firm earlier this week said it
plans to add Apple's new iPhone 5 to the existing U.S. patent lawsuits,
stepping up its legal challenge as the two companies seek to assert
rights to key technologies.
Apple said it wanted the court to
award it damages that reflect "a rational and fair effort to address
Samsung's willful misconduct that has and will impose lasting harm on
Apple."
The Korean firm was the world's top smartphone maker in
the second quarter of this year, shipping more than 50 million phones,
nearly double Apple's 26 million iPhone shipments.
Both companies are raising their marketing spending to promote their latest products ahead of the year-end shopping season.
Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012