Samsung to pay Apple $548 million in long-running patent dispute

Samsung will pay Apple Inc. $548 million for damages in a long-running patent dispute between the two tech firms.

Apple and Samsung filed a joint case management statement with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on Thursday, in which Samsung said it has “has made arrangements to complete payment to Apple.”

If Apple sends an an invoice on Friday then Samsung said it will make the payment by Dec. 14.

The legal battle started when Apple sued Samsung in April 2011 over claims that its rival had violated key Apple patents by producing a phone with a strikingly similar look and feel of Apple’s flagship iPhone.

The following year, in 2012, a jury ruled in favor of the California-based company, awarding $1.05 billion in damages.

In light of the latest developments, Samsung has agreed to pay half of the amount. But the Korean tech giant also said that it has the right to collect reimbursemen for some of the money depending on further developments in the case, including any future rulings from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple said that it “disputes Samsung’s asserted rights to reimbursement.”

A Samsung spokeswoman, Danielle Meister Cohen, said:

“We are disappointed that the court has agreed to proceed with Apple’s grossly exaggerated damages claims regardless of whether the patents are valid.

“While we’ve agreed to pay Apple, we remain confident that our products do not infringe on Apple’s design patents, and we will continue to take all appropriate measures within the legal system to protect our products and our intellectual property.”

The case is Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., 11cv1846, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose).