2016 marks the fifth year of the competition between the top two phone services in the world. Apple went to court with Samsung accusing them of stealing their ideas. Apple insisted upon Samsung owing full profits due to a law made in 1887 saying that “patent infringers have to pay total profits,” according to BBC News. Samsung then made the argument that they only took very minor details.
The U.S. Supreme Court sided with Samsung in the case that it would not be fair to Samsung if they had to pay full profits when they did not steal the full idea. They also said that trademarks are not enough to pinpoint Apple’s looks. Out of fairness, Samsung does not have to pay the full profits of $399 million, but the company does have to pay a part of them. The exact amount will be later decided by a lower court.