Apple Inc.'s $1 billion patent win is a lot smaller now.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the dramatic jury trial between Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple in a California courtroom last summer, on Friday overturned the ruling against about half of the devices at the center of the case. As a result, Apple's patent award has fallen to $598.9 million, about $450.5 million less than before.
She ordered a new trial to consider the proper amount owned to Apple for the devices for which she reduced the damages.
"When a Court detects an error in the jury's damages verdict, the Court has two choices: the Court may order a new trial on damages, or the Court may reduce the award to a supportable amount," Judge Koh wrote in her order.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment; a Samsung spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move is another setback for Apple, which has locked horns with Samsung in courtrooms around the world for nearly two years. The battle has been a flash point for the technology industry. Many large rivals, such as Google Inc.'s Motorola device unit, Microsoft Corp. and others have filed cases against one another covering issues ranging from patents for wireless technology to disagreements over a trademark for the term "App Store."
In August last year, Apple was handed a $1 billion victory in its case against Samsung in a California courtroom when a jury said Samsung's devices had infringed six patents. The decision marked one of the largest patent awards in history.
The judge's order included discussion of Apple's argument that Samsung's infringing devices caused it to lose profits. As a result, a calculation by one of its experts about how much time Samsung's infringing products disrupted sales, and how much that hurt Apple, was an important part of the jury's final decision. An additional element was when Samsung had received notice that it was infringing Apple's patents, and how many products were sold afterward.
In her 27-page order, however, the judge also discussed Apple's request for additional damages, arguing instead that the iPhone maker had not given enough evidence of lost profits to justify an increase in its award, and how neither company had cited enough case law to back up some of their claims.
The new trial will affect products that include Samsung's "Gem," "Indulge," "Infuse 4G" and "Galaxy SII AT&T ."
In her order, Judge Koh said the jury's award still stands for 14 of the devices targeted in the case, including Samsung's "Galaxy Ace," "Galaxy S II i9100," "Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi" and its "4G LTE" variant, among others.
Write to Ian Sherr at ian.sherr@dowjones.com
