US judge orders cut in Samsung payout to Apple

A judge in the US has ordered $1bn (£660.4m) in damages awarded to Apple last year against Samsung be cut by 40%, and set a new trial to assess the level of damages.

Last year's award was the biggest in a series of global legal fights between the two companies over patents.

The ruling, in California, means the two are set to meet again in court.

The judge said the jury, which set the $1bn original award, had incorrectly calculated part of the damages.

The $450.5m ordered to be removed from the payout will be reassessed, and could be increased or lowered.

At the trial, Apple convinced the jury that Samsung had infringed its iPhone and iPad patents.

The patents case encompassed 14 products that Apple said Samsung had used Apple patented designs in.

The jury found that some Samsung products illegally used Apple ideas such as the ``bounce-back'' feature.

This comes into action when a user scrolls to the end of an image. The case also centred on the zoom function activated by touch.

The two companies have court cases in eight other countries, including Samsung's homeland South Korea, Germany, Japan, the UK and Australia.

Samsung and Apple are locked in a battle for the smartphone market that currently Samsung is winning.

The firms sell one in every two mobile phones between them.

Last year, the South Korean company overtook Apple as the world's biggest seller of smartphones.

On Friday shares in Apple closed down 2.5% at $430.47, a 52-week low.