Judge slashes Apple’s patent damages from Samsung

The Apple logo is seen September 11, 2012 at the Yerba Buena Center for Arts in San Francisco the night before Apple's special media event to introduce its much anticipated next generation iPhone. The stage is set for Apple to unveil a new-generation iPhone September 12th as the culture-changing company once again lays claim to the heart of the Internet age lifestyle. The star of the Apple event in the Yerba Buena Theater in San Francisco is expected to be an "iPhone 5" with a big, beautiful touchscreen, connectivity to blazingly fast telecom networks, and improved battery life. AFP PHOTO / Kimihiro HOSHINO

A federal judge on Friday slashed the damages awarded to Apple in its patent case against Samsung and ordered a new trial between the two technology giants.

In a 27-page opinion, Judge Lucy Koh said that the jury had failed to follow her instructions on calculating the damages and cut the 1.05 billion dollar award by 450 million dollars to 599 million dollars.

In her ruling the judge said the jury had relied on a legal theory “that the court had ruled legally impermissible.” But in a more positive note for Apple, Koh also said that the company is entitled to additional damages for patent violations on products that weren’t considered by the jury.

The case in question relates to 14 alleged patent violations on older Samsung products, while a separate case proceeds between the two companies on a newer line of Samsung products such as the Galaxy SIII smartphone and the Galaxy Tab 10.1.