美國法院判決蘋果手機外觀美學不受專利保護

An appeals court on Monday upheld the bulk of Apple’s patent victory against Samsung Electronics in 2012, but overturned part of the decision and said that a lower court should reduce the total amount that Samsung would have to pay.

本週一，一家上訴法院維持了蘋果(Apple)2012年在三星電子(Samsung Electronics)專利侵權案中獲得的大部分勝訴裁決，但推翻了其中一部分。它表示，一家下級法院應該減少三星必須支付的賠償總金額。

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which deals with patent lawsuit appeals, said that the overall aesthetic of the iPhone — a rectangular product with rounded corners, black borders and a flat, clear surface — could not be protected and part of the damages would have to be recalculated.

美國聯邦巡迴上訴法院(United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit)處理涉及專利訴訟的上訴，它表示，iPhone的整體美學造型——長方形的產品、圓角、黑色邊框、平整的表面——不能受到保護，蘋果的部分損失必須重新計算。

Apple had accused Samsung of diluting its brand by copying the overall look of its iPhones. But the court said Apple failed to prove that the iPhone aesthetic was not “functional.” In other words, giving Apple protection for the overall look and shape of a smartphone would essentially grant it a perpetual monopoly over making smartphones work better, and the three-judge panel decided not to go in that direction.

蘋果此前指控三星抄襲其iPhone手機的整體外觀，令其品牌蒙受損失。但該法院表示，蘋果未能證明iPhone的美學造型不是“功能性的”。換句話說，在一部智能手機的整體外觀和形狀上爲蘋果提供保護，基本上會爲其在智能手機的功能改善上提供一個永久性壟斷地位，由三名法官組成的合議庭決定不這麼做。

“We therefore vacate the jury’s damages awards against the Samsung products that were found liable for trade dress dilution and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” the appeals court wrote in its decision.

“因此，對於發現三星在產品外觀上進行模仿，我們取消了陪審團在損害賠償上的決定，並將這個案件發回，根據這個意見進行重審，”上訴法院在裁決中寫到。

Josh Rosenstock, an Apple spokesman, lauded the decision as having “confirmed Samsung blatantly copied Apple products.”

蘋果發言人喬希·羅森斯托克(Josh Rosenstock)稱讚這個決定“證明三星明目張膽地抄襲了蘋果的產品”。

“This is a victory for design and those who respect it,” he said.

“這是設計的勝利，是那些尊重設計的人的勝利，”他說。

Samsung did not have a comment.

三星並未予以置評。

In 2012, a jury unanimously decided that Samsung had violated a series of Apple patents and needed to pay more than $1 billion in damages, an amount that was recalculated to $930 million by another jury in a separate trial in 2013. The lawsuit was prominent, pitting two of the world’s top smartphone makers against each other.

2012年，陪審團一致裁定三星侵犯了蘋果的一系列專利，需要支付逾10億美元的賠償金。2013年，一個不同的陪審團參加的另一次庭審對這筆金額進行了重新計算，調整爲9.3億美元。由於原被告是全球兩大智能手機制造商，該案件令世人矚目。

The two companies have gone on to duel in other legal entanglements, before calling something of a truce. Last year, in a separate case, a federal jury found that Apple and Samsung had infringed on each other’s patents in some mobile devices and awarded most of the damages to Apple. In August, however, the companies said they agreed to drop suits against each other outside the United States.

這兩家公司也因其他一些法律糾紛對簿公堂，後來基本宣告休戰。去年，在另一個案件中，聯邦陪審團認爲，蘋果和三星均在一些移動設備上侵犯了對方的專利，並裁定蘋果獲得大部分賠償。但在去年8月，這兩家公司表示，他們同意在美國以外的地方放棄針對對方的訴訟。

Separately on Monday, Carl C. Icahn, the activist investor, published an open letter to Apple. In the 2,200-word letter, he said Apple’s shares were still “dramatically undervalued,” and urged Timothy D. Cook, the chief executive, to buy back more of Apple’s stock because the company was sitting on too much cash.

另外，在本週一，激進投資者卡爾·C·伊坎(Carl C. Icahn)向蘋果發出了一封2200字的公開信。他在信中說蘋果公司的股價依然“被嚴重低估”，並敦促蘋果首席執行官蒂莫西·D·庫克(Timothy D. Cook)回購更多蘋果的股票，因爲該公司目前坐擁太多現金。