These are not the Apple damages that you are looking for. %CUT% On December 6, 2016, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court reversed a Federal Circuit ruling that Samsung had to pay Apple $399 million for infringing on Apple’s smartphone design patent for its interface. The judgment was calculated using Samsung’s profit on its entire phone and not just the profit related to the interface. At issue was how to interpret 120 year old design patent case. In the older case, the court held that a design patent infringer who applies any “article of manufacture” would be liable to the owner for its total profit. SCOTUS clarified this holding. In the case of a multicomponent product, the relevant “article of manufacture” for arriving at damages award, could be the end product. It could also be only a component of that product. SCOTUS refused to articulate a bright light test for determining whether the entire product or just the interface should be the basis for damages. The case has been remanded to determine the damages issue.

Sometimes, the last word isn’t really the last word. %CUT% Here are some updates for previous posts:

After the shootings in San Bernardino last December, the FBI recovered an iPhone used by one of the shooters. The FBI doesn’t know the password and can’t unlock the phone. The FBI wants Apple to hack its own software by creating a back door into the phone. %CUT% No denying that the FBI has a serious problem. If it tries different passwords looking for the right one, the iPhone might lock down. The FBI wants Apple to create a new operating system that will allow the FBI access to the phone. But it’s not so simple. As Apple CEO, Tim Cook said in an open letter to customers, “Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation. In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession.” See the entire letter at http://www.apple.com/customer-letter/.