Federal court's verdict in Apples favor has been reversed by the Court of Appeals, as Samsung was exonerated in the infringement case originally filed by Apple.
The appellate court ruling means Samsung will not be required to pay $120 million in patent-infringement damages, nor will it need to alter any product designs, dealing a blow to Apple's argument that Samsung was guilty of stealing intellectual property.
Samsung has been alleged for infringing on Apple's quick links (the functionality that allows one to make phone calls from numbers seen on screen, among other things), slide-to-unlock, and auto-correct patents.
Same ruling also reversed an earlier jury decision that Samsung violated an Apple patent on auto-correction. The appellate court endorsed the jury's decision ordering Apple to pay Samsung $158,500 for infringing the latter's patents.
Samsung said in a statement, "We are delighted with the resounding victory from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which found that two of Apple's patents should never have been issued."
"Today's decision is a win for consumer choice and puts competition back where it belongs -- in the marketplace, not in the courtroom."
Apple had initially sought $2 billion on the patents cited in the case, but was awarded just $120 million by a jury in 2014.
Apple originally filed the suit against Samsung in 2012 alleging that the latter infringed array of patents related to smartphones. But the latter denied the allegation and filed a countersuit that Apple had infringed some of its patents.
Three Apple patents and two Samsung patent cases are yet to be put in verdict.
In December 2015, Samsung paid Apple over $548 million in a different years-long patent battle in federal court in California. That case has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Lawyer Bradley Hulbert, who has tracked the litigation process, opined, "a clear signal that Apple is not invincible and that alternative operating systems are here to stay. The marketing and psychological benefits for Samsung are huge."
The case is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 15-1171.
