By Brent Kendall

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court Tuesday ruled a lower court should reconsider how much money Samsung Electronics Co. owes rival Apple Inc. for infringing patents on the iPhone's design.

Samsung has been challenging a $399 million award to Apple after jurors in 2012 found that 11 smartphone models from the South Korean electronics giant infringed Apple's design patents.

The high court agreed to hear the case to clarify how courts should compute monetary damages for design-patent infringement. Apple argued it was entitled to the total profits on Samsung's infringing products. Samsung argued that it shouldn't have to hand over all of its profits on the phones because the design was only one component of those complex devices.

The Supreme Court said an appeals court used the wrong analysis when it ruled for Apple.

The justices sent the case back for more lower court proceedings.

Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 06, 2016 10:44 ET (15:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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