Samsung refused retrial over 'overscroll bounce' patent in Apple dispute

Samsung Electronics was denied Thursday a retrial over the “overscroll bounce” patent in its dispute with Apple in a federal court in California.

The South Korean company had in a filing asked for a retrial as it said that Apple had advocated an “entirely new and far narrower interpretation” of Claim 19 of U.S. Patent no. 7,469,381 (‘381 patent), to avoid having the claim cancelled by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The USPTO in June confirmed four claims of Apple’s patent, including claim 19 of the patent. The claim played a crucial part in Apple’s US$1.05 billion dollar lawsuit against Samsung.

Judge Lucy H. Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, said in her ruling Thursday that the court had denied Samsung’s motion for a new trial based on the ‘381 Patent.

Samsung asked for a retrial based on “newly discovered evidence” with regard to 18 of its products for which the jury found infringement of the ‘381 patent and awarded damages.

The patent refers to “list scrolling and document translation, scaling and rotation on a touch-screen display,” and is popularly known as Apple’s overscroll bounce patent.