INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
An Apple iPhone and one of Samsung's Galaxy S phones
Apple and
Samsung have finally settled a seven-year-long patent dispute, bringing to an end the long-running battle over the design of their rival
copying features of the original iPhone.The fight started in 2011, when Apple sued its South Korean competitor, seeking more than $2bn in
The suit was the first of many that saw the two companies square off in courts around the world.In 2012, a US jury awarded California-based
Apple $1.05bn in damages for the copied features, which included design elements like the screen that displays icons in a grid.Samsung
appealed part of that award, taking its case all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing that damages should be limited since patent
infringement involved only certain features.In 2016, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court agreed, handing a victory to Samsung
But the justices did not rule on the patents themselves, leaving that decision to a lower court.That battle went to trial in May, ending in
defeat for Samsung, which had argued that it owed only $28m
Instead the jury set the award at $539m - about $140m more than the figure it had appealed.
