Apple got its verdict back—$120M against Samsung

A 1992 paper by Catherine Plaisant describes a touchscreen "slider toggle." Apple lawyers said that until the iPhone was unveiled, it wouldn't have been obvious to use such an invention on a phone. (credit: Court documents)

What looked like a solid defense win for Samsung in the second Apple v. Samsung litigation has suddenly slipped away, due to an opinion issued earlier today by the full US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The second Apple v. Samsung trial led to a $120 million jury verdict in Apple's favor. Samsung appealed, and, in February, a three-judge appeals panel said that the jury got it wrong. The judges stripped away Apple's win, saying one patent wasn't infringed and the other two were invalid.

Apple got the full court to take up the case, and the three judges who sided with Samsung didn't win a single ally. An opinion (PDF) issued earlier today restores Apple's win entirely on an 8-3 vote. (One of the 12 sitting Federal Circuit judges, Richard Taranto, did not participate.)