Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/16pdf/15-777_7lho.pdf
Page Number: 5.0

Cite as:  580 U. S. ____ (2016) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

ture or sell an article of manufacture to which a patented 
design  or  a  colorable  imitation  thereof  had  been  applied.
An act to amend the law relating to patents, trademarks, 
and  copyright,  §1,  24  Stat.  387.    It  went  on  to  make  a 
design  patent  infringer  “liable  in  the  amount  of ”  $250  or
“the total profit made by him from the manufacture or sale 
. . .  of  the  article  or  articles  to  which  the  design,  or  color-
able imitation thereof, has been applied.”  Ibid. 

The  Patent  Act  of  1952  codified  this  provision  in  §289.
66  Stat.  813.    That  codified  language  now  reads,  in  rele-
vant part: 

“Whoever  during  the  term  of  a  patent  for  a  design, 
without license of the owner, (1) applies the patented
design, or any colorable imitation thereof, to any arti-
cle of manufacture for the purpose of sale, or (2) sells
or exposes for sale any article of manufacture to which
such  design  or  colorable  imitation  has  been  applied 
shall  be  liable  to  the  owner  to  the  extent  of  his  total 
profit, but not less than $250 . . . .”  35 U. S. C. §289. 

B 

Apple  Inc.  released  its  first-generation  iPhone  in  2007. 
The  iPhone  is  a  smartphone,  a  “cell  phone  with  a  broad 
range  of  other  functions  based  on  advanced  computing
capability,  large  storage  capacity,  and  Internet  connectiv-
ity.”  Riley v. California, 573 U. S. ___, ___ (2014) (slip op., 
at  2).  Apple  secured  many  design  patents  in  connection 
with the release.  Among those patents were the D618,677 
patent,  covering  a  black  rectangular  front  face  with 
rounded  corners,  the  D593,087  patent,  covering  a  rectan-
gular  front  face  with  rounded  corners  and  a  raised  rim,
and  the  D604,305  patent,  covering  a  grid  of  16  colorful 
icons on a black screen.  App. 530–578.

Samsung Electronics Co., Samsung Electronics America,
Inc.,  and  Samsung  Telecommunications  America,  LLC 
(Samsung),  also  manufacture  smartphones.    After  Apple