After a five-year-long legal dispute over patenting smartphone technology, Samsung has finally agreed to pay Apple $548 million as part of a settlement between the two companies. Samsung should pay up before Dec. 14, according to court documents filed to a California court on Thursday (Dec. 3).
It all started in 2011, when Apple sued Samsung for infringing its smartphone patents with the rival Android system. In 2012, the iPhone maker was granted $1 billion in damages. After appeals, the amount was cut by $70 million, and then split into two parts: $548 million for copying smartphone features such as pinch to zoom, and $382 million for allegedly imitating the phones’ appearance.
But the fight is far from over. According to the settlement papers, Samsung has threatened to reclaim its payment in case of certain developments (for example, if the US Patent and Trademark Office rules any relevant Apple patents invalid). In 2016, a jury will decide on the second tranche of damages, according to the BBC.