Washington, March 21

The US Supreme Court today stepped into the high-profile patent fight between the world’s two fiercest smartphone rivals, Apple and Samsung, agreeing to hear Samsung’s appeal of what it contends were excessive penalties for copying patented designs of iPhone.

Samsung Electronics paid Apple Inc over $548 million in December related to a jury verdict from 2012. It is seeking to pare back the $399 million of the amount that was awarded for infringing on designs of the iPhone’s rounded-corner front face, bezel and colourful grid of icons, saying they contributed only marginally to a complex device.

Apple had sued in 2011, claiming Samsung stole its technology and ripped off the look of the iPhone.