SAN FRANCISCO (Yonhap News) -- Overturning her previous ruling, a U.S. federal judge in charge of a Samsung-Apple patent suit on Friday almost halved Samsung's penalty.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ordered Samsung to pay Apple $598.9 million, about $450 million less than before.
In a ruling in August, Koh set Apple's award at $1.05 billion, accepting the jury's conclusion that the South Korean tech giant infringed on some of Apple's patents.
The jury said Samsung copied some designs and technologies for smartphones and tablets.
At that time, Koh said, the jury erred in calculating damages for about half of the devices, including some models of the Galaxy S-II smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet.
She ordered a new trial to consider the proper amount owned to Apple.
"When a Court detects an error in the jury's damages verdict, the Court has two choices: the Court may order a new trial on damages, or the Court may reduce the award to a supportable amount," Koh wrote in her order. She did both.
Neither Samsung nor Apple had an immediate response.
