Samsung wins in Supreme Court battle against Apple

2016 made the ending with the silver linings of Samsung. The US Supreme Court gave the company a victory in its long standing legal battle with Apple. It all started in 2011 when Apple sued Samsung for infringing upon the iPhone's design. Devices like the Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Tab were accused a copying design patent. Think of the round cornered front face of the phone, the bezel, and colorful grid of icons on the screen. In 2012, a jury verdict ruled that Samsung did infringe upon the patent. And in December 2015, Samsung paid $548 million in damages to Apple. But only $399 million of that amount was considered in the latest Supreme Court ruling. In a unanimous decision the nation's highest court said that damages can only be based on part of the device that infringed on the patents, not the entire product. So it's likely that the $399 million figure will decrease. Google, Facebook and other tech companies threw their support behind Samsung during the case. They said that collecting damages on the whole device would stifle innovation. The next step is the case goes to the lower court to decide further proceeding. For more tech news visit cnet.com. In San Francisco, I'm Lexi Sevidis.