Samsung owes $142 mln in wireless patent case, jury says
The logo of Samsung Electronics is seen at its office building in Seoul, South Korea, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
April 18 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) owes patent owner G+ Communications $142 million for infringing G+ patents related to 5G wireless technology in its Galaxy smartphones, a Texas federal jury said on Wednesday.
The jury determined that Samsung owes lump sums of $61 million for infringing one G+ patent and $81 million for another, according to the verdict form.
The three-day retrial on damages followed Chief U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap's order to throw out an earlier $67.5 million verdict for G+ in the same case.
G+ attorney Jennifer Truelove of McKool Smith said in a statement that the company was "very pleased" with the verdict. Representatives for Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.
Plano, Texas-based G+ owns patents covering technology that international standards organizations have deemed essential for devices to comply with 5G wireless standards. It sued Samsung in 2022, alleging that the Korean tech giant included its technology in 5G-capable Galaxy smartphones without a license.
Samsung denied the allegations, argued that the patents were invalid and said that G+ failed to offer licenses on fair and reasonable terms as standards organizations require.
A jury said in January that Samsung infringed two of the three patents at issue and should pay $67.5 million in damages. Gilstrap in March ordered a new trial to redetermine the appropriate amount of damages, after finding that the jury may have been confused about whether the award should be a lump sum or running royalty.
The case is G+ Communications LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, No. 2:22-cv-00078.
For G+: Jason Sheasby, Lisa Glasser and Michael Harbour of Irell & Manella; Jennifer Truelove and Samuel Baxter of McKool Smith
For Samsung: Ruffin Cordell, John Thornburgh, Michael McKeon, Ralph Phillips, Linhong Zhang, April Sunyoung Park, Leonard Davis, Thomas Reger and Aleksandr Gelberg of Fish & Richardson
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Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
