Congrats, Samsung, Now You Owe Apple Only $600M

A federal judge today erased nearly half of the $1 billion in damages that a jury decided that Samsung should pay Apple in a high-profile trial over the smartphone and tablet computer patents. US District Court Judge Lucy Koh lowered the damages awarded to Apple by $450.5 million, saying jurors had not properly followed her instruction in calculating damages. The ruling reduced Samsung's bill to just under $599 million.

The jury decided last year that Samsung ripped off the technology used by Apple to create its iPhone and iPad, and ordered Samsung to pay Apple $1.05 billion in the latest skirmish of a global legal battle between the two tech giants. Samsung has mounted an aggressive post-trial attack on the verdict, raising a number of legal issues that allege the South Korean company was treated unfairly in a federal courtroom a dozen miles from Apple's Cupertino headquarters. The case is ultimately expected to land before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, if not the Supreme Court.