No. 15-___
`
`IN THE
`Supreme Court of the United States
`————
`SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., SAMSUNG
`ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC., AND SAMSUNG
`TELECOMMUNICATIONS AMERICA, LLC,
`Petitioners,
`
`v.
`APPLE INC.,
`
`Respondent.
`
`————
`On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the
`United States Court of Appeals
`for the Federal Circuit
`————
`PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
`————
`KATHLEEN M. SULLIVAN
`Counsel of Record
`WILLIAM B. ADAMS
`DAVID M. COOPER
`QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART
`& SULLIVAN, LLP
`51 Madison Avenue
`22nd Floor
`New York, NY 10010
`(212) 849-7000
`kathleensullivan@
`quinnemanuel.com
`
`MICHAEL T. ZELLER
`B. DYLAN PROCTOR
`QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART
`& SULLIVAN, LLP
`865 S. Figueroa Street
`10th Floor
`Los Angeles, CA 90017
`(213) 443-3000
`VICTORIA F. MAROULIS
`QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART
`& SULLIVAN, LLP
`555 Twin Dolphin Drive
`5th Floor
`Redwood Shores, CA 94065
`(650) 801-5000
`
`Counsel for Petitioners
`
`December 14, 2015
`WILSON-EPES PRINTING CO., INC. – (202) 789-0096 – WASHINGTON, D. C. 20002
`
`
`
`IN THE
`Supreme Court of the United States
`————
`SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., SAMSUNG
`ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC., AND SAMSUNG
`TELECOMMUNICATIONS AMERICA, LLC,
`Petitioners,
`
`v.
`APPLE INC.,
`
`Respondent.
`
`————
`On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the
`United States Court of Appeals
`for the Federal Circuit
`————
`PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
`————
`KATHLEEN M. SULLIVAN
`Counsel of Record
`WILLIAM B. ADAMS
`DAVID M. COOPER
`QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART
`& SULLIVAN, LLP
`51 Madison Avenue
`22nd Floor
`New York, NY 10010
`(212) 849-7000
`kathleensullivan@
`quinnemanuel.com
`
`MICHAEL T. ZELLER
`B. DYLAN PROCTOR
`QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART
`& SULLIVAN, LLP
`865 S. Figueroa Street
`10th Floor
`Los Angeles, CA 90017
`(213) 443-3000
`VICTORIA F. MAROULIS
`QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART
`& SULLIVAN, LLP
`555 Twin Dolphin Drive
`5th Floor
`Redwood Shores, CA 94065
`(650) 801-5000
`
`Counsel for Petitioners
`
`December 14, 2015
`WILSON-EPES PRINTING CO., INC. – (202) 789-0096 – WASHINGTON, D. C. 20002
`
`
`
`QUESTIONS PRESENTED
`
`Design patents are limited to “any new, original and
`ornamental design for an article of manufacture.”
`35 U.S.C. 171. A design-patent holder may elect
`infringer’s profits as a remedy under 35 U.S.C. 289,
`which provides that one who “applies the patented
`design … to any article of manufacture … shall be
`liable to the owner to the extent of his total profit, …
`but [the owner] shall not twice recover the profit made
`from the infringement.”
`The Federal Circuit held that a district court need
`not exclude unprotected conceptual or functional
`features from a design patent’s protected ornamental
`scope. The court also held that a design-patent holder
`is entitled to an infringer’s entire profits from sales of
`any product found to contain a patented design, with-
`out any regard to the design’s contribution to that
`product’s value or sales. The combined effect of these
`two holdings is to reward design patents far beyond
`the value of any inventive contribution. The questions
`presented are:
`1. Where a design patent includes unprotected
`non-ornamental features, should a district court be re-
`quired to limit that patent to its protected ornamental
`scope?
`2. Where a design patent is applied to only a com-
`ponent of a product, should an award of infringer’s
`profits be limited to those profits attributable to the
`component?
`
`(i)
`
`
`
`ii
`RULE 29.6 STATEMENT
`
`Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (“SEA”) is a
`wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co.,
`Ltd. (“SEC”), a publicly held corporation organized
`under the laws of the Republic of Korea. SEC is not
`owned by any parent corporation and no other publicly
`held corporation owns 10% or more of its stock. No
`other publicly held corporation owns 10% or more of
`SEA’s stock. Effective January 1, 2015, Samsung
`Telecommunications America, LLC (“STA”) merged
`with and into SEA, and therefore STA no longer exists
`as a separate corporate entity.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`QUESTIONS PRESENTED ...............................
`RULE 29.6 STATEMENT ...................................
`INTRODUCTION ................................................
`OPINIONS BELOW ............................................
`JURISDICTION ..................................................
`CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY
`PROVISIONS INVOLVED ..............................
`STATEMENT OF THE CASE ............................
`A. Statutory Background ................................
`B. The Smartphone Industry ..........................
`C. Apple’s Asserted Design Patents And
`Trade Dresses .............................................
`D. The District Court Proceedings ..................
`E. The Federal Circuit Decision .....................
`REASONS FOR GRANTING THE WRIT ..........
`I. THIS COURT SHOULD REVIEW THE
`FEDERAL CIRCUIT’S HOLDING THAT
`A DISTRICT COURT NEED NOT LIMIT
`A DESIGN PATENT TO ITS PRO-
`TECTED ORNAMENTAL SCOPE ..........
`A. The Decision Below Conflicts With
`Section 171 Of The Patent Act ............
`B. The Decision Below Conflicts With
`This Court’s Precedents Requiring
`Judicial Construction Of Patent
`Claims ..................................................
`
`(iii)
`
`Page
`
`i
`ii
`1
`3
`4
`
`4
`4
`4
`6
`
`10
`14
`17
`20
`
`21
`
`21
`
`24
`
`
`
`iv
`TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued
`
`Page
`
`26
`
`27
`
`II. THIS COURT SHOULD REVIEW THE
`FEDERAL CIRCUIT’S HOLDING THAT
`DESIGN-PATENT OWNERS ARE
`ENTITLED TO ALL PROFITS FROM A
`PRODUCT THAT CONTAINS AN
`INFRINGING DESIGN ............................
`A. The Decision Below Conflicts With
`Section 289 Of The Patent Act And
`Prior Decisions .....................................
`B. The Decision Below Conflicts With
`Background Principles Of Causation
`And Equity ...........................................
`III. THE DECISION BELOW PRESENTS
`ISSUES OF RECURRING AND
`NATIONWIDE IMPORTANCE ...............
`CONCLUSION ....................................................
`APPENDIX A – Federal Circuit Opinion
`(May 18, 2015) ..................................................
`APPENDIX B – District Court Order Re-
`garding Design Patent Claim Construction
`(July 27, 2012) .................................................. 37a
`APPENDIX C – District Court Order Grant-
`ing In Part And Denying In Part Motion For
`Judgment As A Matter Of Law (January 29,
`2013) ................................................................. 56a
`APPENDIX D – District Court Order Re-
`garding Damages (March 1, 2013) .................. 114a
`APPENDIX E – Federal Circuit Order Deny-
`ing Rehearing (August 13, 2015) ..................... 154a
`
`32
`
`35
`39
`
`1a
`
`
`
`
`
`v
`TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued
`
`Page
`
`APPENDIX F – Relevant Statutory Provi-
`sions .................................................................. 156a
`APPENDIX G – Excerpts Of Transcript
`Of District Court Proceedings (August 21,
`2012) ................................................................. 159a
`
`
`
`
`
`vi
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`
`CASES
`
`Page(s)
`
`23
`
`36
`
`32
`
`23
`
`28
`
`29
`
`Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.,
`35 F.3d 1435 (9th Cir. 1994) .....................
`Apple Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Co.,
`695 F.3d 1370 (Fed. Cir. 2012) .................
`Apple Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Co.,
`735 F.3d 1352 (Fed. Cir. 2013) .................
`Bilski v. Kappos,
`561 U.S. 593 (2010) ................................... 5, 21
`Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats,
`Inc.,
`489 U.S. 141 (1989) ............................... 5, 21, 38
`Brown Bag Software v. Symantec Corp.,
`960 F.2d 1465 (9th Cir. 1992) ...................
`Bush & Lane Piano Co. v. Becker Bros.,
`222 F. 902 (2d Cir. 1915) ..........................
`Bush & Lane Piano Co. v. Becker Bros.,
`234 F. 79 (2d Cir. 1916) ............................
`Carey v. Piphus,
`435 U.S. 247 (1978) ...................................
`Church of Scientology of Cal. v. IRS,
`484 U.S. 9 (1987) .......................................
`Computer Assocs. Int’l v. Altai, Inc.,
`982 F.2d 693 (2d Cir. 1992) ......................
`Dep’t of Revenue v. ACF Indus., Inc.,
`510 U.S. 332 (1994) ...................................
`Dobson v. Dornan,
`118 U.S. 10 (1886) ..................................... 1, 34
`
`33
`
`35
`
`23
`
`31
`
`
`
`
`
`vii
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
`
`Page(s)
`
`34
`
`1
`
`33
`
`25
`
`Dobson v. Hartford Carpet Co.,
`114 U.S. 439 (1885) ...................................
`Dunlap v. Schofield,
`152 U.S. 244 (1894) ...................................
`Dura Pharm., Inc. v. Broudo,
`544 U.S. 336 (2005) ...................................
`eBay, Inc. v. MercExchange, LLC,
`547 U.S. 388 (2006) ............................. 26, 33, 36
`Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc.,
`543 F.3d 665 (Fed. Cir. 2008) ...................
`Gorham Co. v. White,
`81 U.S. 511 (1871) ..................................... 1, 21
`Graham v. John Deere Co.,
`383 U.S. 1 (1966) .......................................
`Gustafson v. Alloyd Co.,
`513 U.S. 561 (1995) ...................................
`High Point Design, LLC v. Buyers Direct,
`Inc.,
`730 F.3d 1301 (Fed. Cir. 2013) .................
`Holmes v. Sec. Investor Prot. Corp.,
`503 U.S. 258 (1992) ...................................
`Inwood Labs., Inc. v. Ives Labs., Inc.,
`456 U.S. 844 (1982) ...................................
`Livingston v. Woolworth,
`56 U.S. 546 (1853) .....................................
`Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc.,
`517 U.S. 370 (1996) ...................................
`
`38
`
`30
`
`24
`
`33
`
`24
`
`33
`
`25
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`viii
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
`
`Page(s)
`
`32
`
`38
`
`32
`
`33
`
`30
`
`Meyer v. Holley,
`537 U.S. 280 (2003) ...................................
`Nordock, Inc. v. Systems Inc.,
`803 F.3d 1344 (Fed. Cir. 2015) .................
`Pac. Coast Marine Windshields Ltd. v.
`Malibu Boats, LLC,
`2014 WL 4185297
`(M.D. Fla. Aug. 22, 2014) ..........................
`Paroline v. United States,
`134 S. Ct. 1710 (2014) ...............................
`ResQNet.com, Inc. v. Lansa, Inc.,
`594 F.3d 860 (Fed. Cir. 2010) ...................
`Riley v. California,
`134 S. Ct. 2473 (2014) ...............................
`Rite-Hite Corp. v. Kelley Co.,
`56 F.3d 1538 (Fed. Cir. 1995) ...................
`Sheldon v. Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corp.,
`309 U.S. 390 (1940) ................................... 31, 33
`Skechers U.S.A., Inc. v. DB Shoe Co.,
`No. 14-cv-07009 (C.D. Cal.) ......................
`Smith v. Whitman Saddle Co.,
`148 U.S. 674 (1893) ................................... 1, 5
`Teva Pharms. USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc.,
`135 S. Ct. 831 (2015) .................................
`Tilghman v. Proctor,
`125 U.S. 136 (1888) ...................................
`TrafFix Devices, Inc. v. Mktg. Displays, Inc.,
`532 U.S. 23 (2001) .....................................
`
`6
`
`30
`
`32
`
`25
`
`33
`
`24
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ix
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
`
`
`
`Page(s)
`
`34
`
`Trans-World Mfg. Corp. v. Al Nyman &
`Sons Inc.,
`750 F.2d 1552 (Fed. Cir. 1984) .................
`Univ. of Tex. Sw. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar,
`133 S. Ct. 2517 (2013) ...............................
`Young v. Grand Rapids Refrigerator Co.,
`268 F. 966 (6th Cir. 1920) .........................
`In re Zahn,
`617 F.2d 261 (C.C.P.A. 1980) ................... 10, 28
`
`33
`
`29
`
`CONSTITUTION, STATUTES, AND
`REGULATION
`
`5
`
`U.S. Const., art. I, § 8, cl. 8 .......................... 4, 38
`Act of May 9, 1902, ch. 783,
`Pub. L. No. 57-109, 32 Stat. 193 ..............
`Act of Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 726,
`6
`Pub. L. No. 79-587, 60 Stat. 778 ..............
`31
`17 U.S.C. 25(b) (1940) ..................................
`4
`28 U.S.C. 1254(1) ..........................................
`4
`35 U.S.C. 1 ....................................................
`4
`35 U.S.C. 101 ................................................
`35 U.S.C. 171 ................................... i, 4, 21, 23, 28
`35 U.S.C. 284 ................................................ 5, 30
`35 U.S.C. 289 ................................................ i, 2, 3,
`5, 6, 19, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35
`37 C.F.R. 1.362(b) .........................................
`
`5
`
`
`
`
`
`x
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
`Page(s)
`
`
`
`LEGISLATIVE MATERIALS
`
`18 Cong. Rec. 835 (1887) .............................. 34, 35
`H.R. Rep. No. 49-1966 (1886) .......................
`34
`H.R. Rep. No. 57-1661 (1902) .......................
`5
`
`OTHER AUTHORITIES
`Alex Cocotas, Samsung Maintains Lead In
`The Smartphone Market, Despite iPhone
`5, BUSINESS INSIDER (Feb. 9, 2013),
`http://www.businessinsider.com.au/sams
`ung-is-the-smartphone-king-2013-2 ........
`Apple iPhone, http://www.gsmarena.com/a
`pple_iphone-1827.php ..............................
`iPhone 4 Official Introduction,
`Apple
`https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEa
`LJpFxR9Q .................................................
`Bartlett Cleland, Flawed by design, THE
`HILL (Oct. 12, 2015), http://thehill.com/
`blogs/congress-blog/technology/256563-
`flawed-by-design ......................................
`BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (1st ed. 1891) ......
`Chris Ziegler, The LG KE850: touchable
`chocolate, ENGADGET (Dec. 15, 2006),
`http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/15/the
`-lg-ke850-touchable-chocolate/ .................
`
`9
`
`7
`
`9
`
`37
`27
`
`7
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`xi
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
`Page(s)
`Daniel O’Connor, One In Six Active U.S.
`Patents Pertain To The Smartphone,
`PROJECT DISCO
`(Oct.
`17,
`2012),
`http://www.project-disco.org/intellectual-
`property/one-in-six-active-u-s-patents-
`pertain-to-the-smartphone/ ......................
`David Drummond, When Patents Attack
`Android (Aug. 3, 2011), https://google
`blog.blogspot.com/2011/08/when-patents-
`attack-android.html ..................................
`David M. Marcus & Shawn K. Leppo,
`Welcome Fallout from the Smartphone
`Wars:
`Federal
`Circuit
`embraces
`strong protection of design patents,
`METROPOLITAN CORPORATE COUNSEL
`(July 17, 2015), http://www.metrocorp
`counsel.com/articles/32603/welcome-
`fallout-smartphone-wars-federal-circuit-
`embraces-strong-protection-design-pat ...
`Gary L. Griswold, 35 USC 289—After Apple
`v. Samsung, Time for a Better-Crafted
`Judicial Standard for Awarding “Total
`Profits”?, PATENTLYO (Aug. 14, 2015),
`http://patentlyo.com/patent/2015/08/gris
`wold-patent-damages.html .......................
`Giuseppe Macri, Patent Trolls are Already
`Abusing the Apple v. Samsung Ruling,
`INSIDESOURCES (Oct. 1, 2015), http://
`www.insidesources.com/patent-trolls-are
`-already-abusing-the-apple-v-samsung-
`ruling/ ........................................................
`
`37
`
`38
`
`10
`
`10
`
`37
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`xii
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
`
`Page(s)
`
`Jason Rantanen, Apple v. Samsung: Design
`Patents Win, PATENTLYO (May 18, 2015),
`http://patentlyo.com/patent/2015/05/sam
`sung-design-patents.html .........................
`Jeff John Roberts, Apple, rounded corners
`and the new debate over design patents,
`FORTUNE (Aug. 19, 2015), http://fortune.
`com/2015/08/19/apple-patents-rounded-
`corners/ ......................................................
`Joel Reidenberg et al., Patents and Small
`Participants in the Smartphone Industry,
`18 STAN. TECH. L. REV. 375 (2015) ............
`Kent German, A Brief History of Android
`Phones, CNET (Aug. 2, 2011), http://
`www.cnet.com/news/a-brief-history-of-
`android-phones/.........................................
`MANUAL OF PATENT EXAMINING PROCEDURE
`§ 1503.02, available at http://www.uspto.
`gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1503.html ......
`Michael Risch, Software Patents and the
`Smartphone, PRAWFSBLAWG (Nov. 15,
`2012), http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/pra
`wfsblawg/2012/11/software-patents-and-
`the-smartphone.html ................................
`Mike Musgrove, Apple Seeks To Muscle Into
`Telecom With iPod Phone, WASHINGTON
`POST, Jan. 10, 2007, at D1, available at
`http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
`content/article/2007/01/09/AR200701090
`0698.html ..................................................
`
`37
`
`37
`
`10
`
`9
`
`11
`
`10
`
`7
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`xiii
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
`
`Page(s)
`
`RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF RESTITUTION &
`UNJUST ENRICHMENT § 51(4) (2011) .........
`Samsung F700, http://www.gsmarena.com/
`samsung_f700-1849.php ............................
`Samsung Handsets Through The Ages: A
`Photo Tour of Phone Firsts, ZDNET (May
`28, 2015), http://www.zdnet.com/pictures
`/samsung-handsets-through-the-ages-a-
`photo-tour-of-phone-firsts/ ........................
`Steve Lebsock, Court battle over design
`patents could affect Colorado economy,
`THE BUSINESS TIMES (Nov. 17, 2015),
`http://thebusinesstimes.com/court-battle-
`over-design-patents-could-affect-colorado-
`economy/ ....................................................
`USPTO, http://www.uspto.gov/corda/dash
`boards/patents/main.dashxml?CTNAVI
`D=1005 ......................................................
`USPTO, http://www.uspto.gov/corda/dash
`boards/patents/main.dashxml?CTNAVID
`=1006 .........................................................
`Vintage Mobiles, http://www.gsmhistory.
`com/vintage-mobiles/ ................................
`WALTER ISAACSON, STEVE JOBS (2011) .........
`
`33
`
`8
`
`6
`
`38
`
`5
`
`5
`
`6
`9
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`INTRODUCTION
`This Court has decided many utility-patent cases in
`recent Terms, but has not reviewed a design-patent
`case in more than 120 years. Late nineteenth-century
`cases considered design patents on such products
`as a spoon handle, Gorham Co. v. White, 81 U.S. 511
`(1871), a carpet, Dobson v. Dornan, 118 U.S. 10 (1886),
`a saddle, Smith v. Whitman Saddle Co., 148 U.S. 674
`(1893), and a rug, Dunlap v. Schofield, 152 U.S. 244
`(1894). This case, by contrast, involves three design
`patents covering partial features of smartphones—
`complex products that contain hundreds of thousands
`of features that have nothing to do with a phone’s de-
`sign.
`With the recent explosion of design patents in
`complex products like smartphones, the time is ripe
`for this Court to again take up the issue. A patented
`design might be the essential feature of a spoon or rug.
`But the same is not true of smartphones, which
`contain countless other features that give them
`remarkable functionality wholly unrelated to their
`design. By combining a cellphone and a computer, a
`smartphone is a miniature internet browser, digital
`camera, video recorder, GPS navigator, music player,
`game station, word processor, movie player and much
`more.
`The three design patents at issue here cover only
`specific, limited portions of a smartphone’s design: a
`particular black rectangular round-cornered front
`face, a substantially similar rectangular round-cor-
`nered front face plus the surrounding rim or “bezel,”
`and a particular colorful grid of sixteen icons. Each of
`these patents contains
`indisputably unprotected
`elements within its overall claimed “ornamental”
`design. Some of those elements are not protected as
`
`
`
`2
`“ornamental” because they are conceptual: No one
`may own rectangles, round corners, the color black or
`the concept of a grid of icons. And some of those
`elements are not protected as “ornamental” because
`they are functional: Rectangular shapes and flat
`screens allow a user to view documents and media.
`Round corners make phones easier to slip into a pocket
`or purse. A bezel prevents the glass screen from
`shattering if a phone is dropped. Icons on a screen
`inform a user how to touch the screen to initiate
`various functions.
`But the Federal Circuit nonetheless held that a
`district court need not instruct a jury to disregard
`those unprotected elements when assessing the
`similarities between a patented design and an accused
`product. The court allowed the jury to find infringe-
`ment based merely on similarities
`in “overall
`appearance” and indeed, based on “any perceived
`similarities or differences” whatsoever.
`Compounding this problem, the Federal Circuit al-
`lowed the jury to award Samsung’s entire profits from
`the sale of smartphones found to contain the patented
`designs—here totaling $399 million. It held that
`Apple was “entitled to” those entire profits no matter
`how little the patented design features contributed to
`the value of Samsung’s phones. In other words, even
`if the patented features contributed 1% of the value of
`Samsung’s phones, Apple gets 100% of Samsung’s
`profits.
`The Federal Circuit did not dispute that such a
`result is ridiculous, but said it was compelled by
`Section 289 of the Patent Act. That is incorrect.
`Section 289 nowhere defines the “article of manufac-
`ture” to which a patented design is applied as the
`entire product (here, a smartphone) rather than the
`
`
`
`3
`portion of the product depicted in the design patent.
`And nothing in Section 289 suggests that Congress
`exempted design patents
`from the background
`principles of causation and equity that inform all of
`patent law, which after all is a species of tort.
`Both holdings clearly warrant this Court’s review.
`Each independently conflicts with the Patent Act.
`Together, they provide a vehicle for design-patent
`holders to obtain unjustified windfalls far exceeding
`the conceivable value of any inventive contribution.
`The decision below is thus an open invitation to
`litigation abuse, and has already prompted grave
`concern across a range of U.S. companies about a new
`flood of extortionate patent litigation, especially in the
`field of high technology.
`Because the Federal Circuit has exclusive nation-
`wide jurisdiction over patent law, only this Court’s re-
`view can correct that court’s misreading of the Patent
`Act and avert the potentially devastating conse-
`quences of the decision below. This Court should grant
`the petition.
`
`OPINIONS BELOW
`
`The opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
`Federal Circuit is reported at 786 F.3d 983 and
`reproduced at App. 1a-36a. The order of the court of
`appeals denying rehearing en banc is reproduced at
`App. 154a-155a. The order of the U.S. District Court
`for the Northern District of California regarding
`design patent claim construction is unreported but is
`available at 2012 WL 3071477 and reproduced at App.
`37a-55a. The district court’s orders denying in part
`certain post-trial motions are reported at 920 F. Supp.
`2d 1079 and 926 F. Supp. 2d 1100 and are reproduced
`at App. 56a-113a and App. 114a-153a, respectively.
`
`
`
`4
`JURISDICTION
`
`The court of appeals denied rehearing en banc on
`August 13, 2015. App. 154a-155a. On October 20,
`2015, the Chief Justice extended the time for filing a
`petition for a writ of certiorari to December 14, 2015.
`This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1254(1).
`
`CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY
`PROVISIONS INVOLVED
`
`U.S. Constitution art. I, § 8, cl. 8 provides in
`pertinent part that:
`The Congress shall have Power … To promote
`the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by
`securing for limited Times to Authors and
`Inventors the exclusive Right to their respec-
`tive Writings and Discoveries.
`The relevant provisions of the Patent Act, 35 U.S.C.
`1, et seq., are reproduced at App. 156a-158a.
`
`STATEMENT OF THE CASE
`
`A. Statutory Background
`
`This case involves the permissible scope of “design
`patents” as well as the remedies available for
`infringement of those patents. This Court is familiar
`with “utility patents,” which are available for “any
`new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or
`composition of matter, or any new and useful
`improvement thereof.” 35 U.S.C. 101 (emphasis
`added). By contrast, design patents are available for
`“any new, original and ornamental design for an
`article of manufacture.” 35 U.S.C. 171 (emphasis
`added). Design patents are historically cheaper and
`easier to obtain than utility patents—with a higher
`
`
`
`5
`allowance rate1 and no requirement to pay mainten-
`ance fees, see 37 C.F.R. 1.362(b).
`The statute does not define what constitutes a
`protected “ornamental” design, but it cannot protect
`“abstract ideas” or “physical phenomena” like basic
`shapes or concepts, Bilski v. Kappos, 561 U.S. 593, 601
`(2010), and there is a well-accepted contrast with
`unprotected “functional” features, see Bonito Boats,
`Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc., 489 U.S. 141, 148
`(1989). Although design patents were once available
`for “useful” product configurations, see Smith, 148
`U.S. at 677, in 1902 Congress eliminated “the
`word ‘useful’ as applied to design patents … and
`substitut[ed] the word ‘ornamental,’” H.R. Rep. No. 57-
`1661, at 1 (1902); see Act of May 9, 1902, ch. 783, Pub.
`L. No. 57-109, 32 Stat. 193.
`While utility-patent holders may recover only
`“damages adequate to compensate for the infringe-
`ment,” 35 U.S.C. 284, such as an award of lost profits
`or a reasonable royalty, design-patent holders may
`elect those remedies or infringer’s profits under 35
`U.S.C. 289. That section provides:
`Whoever during the term of a patent for a
`design, without license of the owner …
`applies the patented design … to any article
`of manufacture … shall be liable to the owner
`to the extent of his total profit, but not less
`than $250 ….
`
`
`1 Compare USPTO, http://www.uspto.gov/corda/dashboards/
`patents/main.dashxml?CTNAVID=1006 (84% of design-patent
`applications allowed), with USPTO, http://www.uspto.gov/corda/
`dashboards/patents/main.dashxml?CTNAVID=1005
`(67.8% of
`utility, plant, and reissue patent applications allowed).
`
`
`
`6
`Nothing in this section shall prevent, lessen,
`or impeach any other remedy which an owner
`of an infringed patent has under the provi-
`sions of this title, but he shall not twice
`recover the profit made from the infringement.
`35 U.S.C. 289.2 The statute does not define what
`constitutes “an article of manufacture.”
`
`B. The Smartphone Industry
`
`Although “unheard of ten years ago,” smartphones
`are now owned by “a significant majority of American
`adults.” Riley v. California, 134 S. Ct. 2473, 2482
`(2014). They “are now such a pervasive and insistent
`part of daily life that the proverbial visitor from Mars
`might conclude they were an important feature of
`human anatomy.” Id.
`Samsung has long been an industry leader in the
`field of mobile phones, which it has made and sold
`since 1988.3 Samsung was the first mobile-phone
`manufacturer, for example, to introduce devices that
`incorporated 3-D cameras, MP3 music players, and
`voice recognition.4 Apple, by contrast, was a latecomer
`
`
`2 Congress eliminated infringer’s profits as a remedy for
`utility-patent infringement in 1946. See Act of Aug. 1, 1946, ch.
`726, Pub. L. No. 79-587, 60 Stat. 778.
`3 See Samsung Handsets Through The Ages: A Photo Tour of
`Phone Firsts, ZDNET (May 28, 2015), http://www.zdnet.com/
`pictures/samsung-handsets-through-the-ages-a-photo-tour-of-
`phone-firsts/.
`4 See Vintage Mobiles, http://www.gsmhistory.com/vintage-
`mobiles/.
`
`
`
`7
`to the mobile-phone industry, announcing the iPhone
`in January 2007 and launching it in June 2007.5
`Well before Apple’s iPhone entered the market in
`2007, companies other than Apple were independently
`developing rectangular, round-cornered smartphone
`devices with large, flat, clear touchscreens. For
`example, Samsung and LG had developed product
`designs by 2006 that incorporated configurations
`similar to those in Apple’s design patents:
`
`
`
`
`
` Samsung Q-Bowl LG Prada Apple iPhone6
`
`
`5 E.g., Mike Musgrove, Apple Seeks To Muscle Into Telecom
`With iPod Phone, WASHINGTON POST, Jan. 10, 2007, at D1,
`available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
`article/2007/01/09/AR2007010900698.html.
`6 A7408-09, A7415, A7465-73 (Samsung Q-Bowl); A24675,
`A29563-71, Chris Ziegler, The LG KE850: touchable chocolate,
`ENGADGET (Dec. 15, 2006), http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/15/
`the-lg-ke850-touchable-chocolate/ (LG Prada); Apple iPhone,
`http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone-1827.php (Apple iPhone).
`(Citations in the form A___ refer to the joint appendix before the
`Federal Circuit, Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., No. 14-
`1335 (Fed. Cir.).)
`
`
`
`8
`Samsung also developed additional prototypes and
`mock-ups in 2006, including those below, all before the
`iPhone was announced:
`
`
`A7401-13. The Samsung F700, which was announced
`in early 2007 and went to market later that year,
`retained the same essential design concept:
`
`See A27594.7
`
`
`
`
`
`7 See also Samsung F700, http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung
`_f700-1849.php.
`
`
`
`9
`The use of such rounded rectangular shapes as the
`basic design for the iPhone and other contemporary
`smartphones is unsurprising. As Apple’s CEO Steve
`Jobs told Apple engineers when earlier convincing
`them to use such shapes, one need only look around at
`ordinary objects like no-parking signs to see that
`“‘[r]ectangles with rounded corners are everywhere!’”8
`The worldwide smartphone market grew tenfold
`between 2007 and 2014, with sales rising from 122
`million devices to 1.24 billion devices. That explosion
`in popularity results from smartphones’ functionality.
`Apple’s own advertising touts the functional features
`of its phones.9 And after Samsung adopted Google’s
`Android operating system for its flagship products in
`2010, its share of the smartphone market rose
`considerably.10
`As of 2012, the Patent and Trademark Office
`(“PTO”) had issued more than 250,000 smartphone-
`related patents, constituting 16% of all active U.S.
`
`
`8 WALTER ISAACSON, STEVE JOBS 130 (2011). According to his
`biographer, Jobs continued, ‘“Just look around this room! … And
`look outside, there’s even more [rectangles with rounded corners],
`practically everywhere you look! Within three blocks, we found
`seventeen examples …. I started pointing them out everywhere
`[e.g., a No Parking sign] until he was completely convinced.’” Id.
`9 See, e.g., Apple iPhone 4 Official Introduction, https://www.
`youtube.com/watch?v=KEaLJpFxR9Q (emphasizing videoconfer-
`encing, camera, video recording, processing chip and battery
`features).
`10 See, e.g., Alex Cocotas, Samsung Maintains Lead In The
`Smartphone Market, Despite iPhone 5, BUSINESS INSIDER (Feb. 9,
`2013), http://www.businessinsider.com.au/samsung-is-the-smart
`phone-king-2013-2; Kent German, A Brief History of Android
`Phones, CNET (Aug. 2, 2011), http://www.cnet.com/news/a-brief-
`history-of-android-phones/.
`
`
`
`10
`patents.11 Any individual smartphone may incorpo-
`rate the vast majority of those 250,000 patented
`technologies.12 About six percent of all smartphone-
`related patents are design patents.13
`
`C. Apple’s Asserted Design Patents And
`Trade Dresses
`
`This petition arises from a decision affirming a
`judgment awarding Apple $399 million for supposed
`infringement of three of Apple’s design patents. A
`design patent uses pictures rather than verbal
`descriptions to claim its invention. While some design
`patents depict entire products or decorative patterns
`that can be applied to entire products, other design
`patents (as here) cover only a portion or small
`component of a product. The Federal Circuit’s
`predecessor confirmed the PTO’s authority to allow
`such partial claiming. See In re Zahn, 617 F.2d 261,
`267 (C.C.P.A. 1980). Partial design patents use
`
`
`11 See Daniel O’Connor, One In Six Active U.S. Patents Pertain
`To The Smartphone, PROJECT DISCO (Oct. 17, 2012), http://www.
`project-disco.org/intellectual-property/one-in-six-active-u-s-pate
`nts-pertain-to-the-smartphone/.
`12 David Drummond, When Patents Attack Android (Aug. 3,
`2011), https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/when-patents-
`attack-android.html; Michael Risch, Software Patents and the
`Smartphone, PRAWFSBLAWG (Nov. 15, 2012), http://prawfsblawg.
`blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2012/11/software-patents-and-the-smart
`phone.html (noting the “oft repeated statistic: that there are
`250,000 patents that might be
`infringed by any given
`smartphone”).
`13 See Joel Reidenberg et al., Patents and Small Participants in
`the Smartphone Industry, 18 STAN. TECH. L. REV. 375, 394 (2015).
`
`
`
`11
`broken lines in their drawings to exclude features that
`are not part of the “claimed design.”14
`All three design patents at issue here claim “[t]he
`ornamental design … as shown and described” in such
`pictures, and all three claim only partial features of a
`smartphone’s design. Using solid lines for the claimed
`subject matter and broken lines for disclaimed fea-
`tures, Apple’s D618,677 (“D’677”) patent shows a black
`rectangular front face with rounded corners, as
`follows:
`
`
`
`
`14 As the PTO states in its Manual of Patent Examining
`Procedure (“MPEP”), “[t]he two most common uses of broken lines
`are to disclose the environment related to the claimed design and
`to define the bounds of the claim. Structure that is not part of
`the claimed design, but is considered necessary to show the
`environment in which the design is associated, may be
`represented in the drawing by broken lines. This includes any
`portion of an article in which the design is embodied or applied to
`that is not considered part of the claimed design.” MPEP
`§ 1503.02, available at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/
`mpep/s1503.html.
`
`
`
`12
`
`
`
`A1310-14.
`Apple’s D593,087 (“D’087”) patent is substantially
`similar to the D’677 as it depicts a rectangular front
`face
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