U.S. Appeals Court Overturns Apple’s $120 Million Patent Battle Victory Over Samsung

Well, here we are in the umpteenth month of this seemingly never-ending, ever-evolving, and always climactic intellectual property brawl between Apple and Samsung. We’re now knee-deep in phase two of the relentless courtroom saga, however — just in case you haven’t been keeping close tabs lately. And while there’s still no end in sight, today’s news is definitely a blessing in disguise for Samsung.

As of Friday afternoon, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. has overturned a whopping $119.6 million judgment against Samsung which was originally won by Apple less than two years ago. The court ultimately ruled that Samsung did not, as had been previously determined, infringe on Apple’s “quick-links” patent. Additionally, the court ruled that Apple’s patents relating to slide-to-unlock and auto-correct functionality were also invalid.

The alleged “quick-links” infringement, in and of itself — which allows a user to tap on a phone number posted anywhere on a device’s touchscreen and have the handset dial that number, made up a staggering $99 million of the total award.

In a quite ironic, but nonetheless interesting turn of events, the court also determined that Apple was liable for infringing on a Samsung patent — although no additional details were released at the hearing. Also, perhaps for obvious reasons, Apple initially declined to comment on the recent rulings, and Samsung had nothing to say at the moment either.

The ruling that was announced on Friday, which essentially wipes out a $119.6 million damages award that Apple won on May 2nd, 2014, came at the hands of a three-judge panel — primarily due to the fact that so many appeals have been filed in the case already. Now in the trial’s second phase, very similar to the first, Apple accused Samsung of illegally utilizing some of its patents without Cupertino’s permission. The only real difference between the two is that the second trial is premised around newer Samsung devices.

In any case, Friday’s victory is definitely a long time coming for the Seoul, South Korea telecom giant — especially considering how Apple has generally been the victor when the two companies have resulted to working their differences out in court. At the end of last year, for instance, Samsung was forced to pay Apple a jaw-dropping $548.2 million in regards to a separate patent infringement case. For its part, however, Samsung has since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its argument in that case.

If that seems a bit, uhh, how should we say, extensive? That’s because it kind of is. In its effort to get the highest court in the land to hear its argument, Samsung is trying to have the U.S. Supreme Court re-visit the idea of patent law reform among the individual states altogether.

Learn More: Why Samsung’s Galaxy S7 with OLED Display Should Serve as a Wake up Call to Apple

What are your thoughts about the latest developments in this ongoing courtroom saga between Apple and Samsung?