As we always advise when it comes to early court rulings in these heated patent battles, don’t underestimate the due process of law. That rang true in the biggest patent battle in the mobile sector, the one currently raging between Samsung and Apple. The original $1.05 billion judgment Judge Lucy Koh imposed on Samsung was considered to be an abuse of discretion by the US circuit court, and it seems she’s caught wind of that message loud and clear.

Koh has adjusted the original judgment to the tune of $450 million in favor of Apple. According to her, the jury’s original calculations — against 14 Samsung products — were based on an “incorrect legal theory.” Koh claims she made it clear to the jury that the impermissible theory could not and should not be used when figuring out the damages, but says the jury went ahead and did it anyway.

That said, there’s still a lot more number crunching to be done in the halls of the United States courtrooms. Koh awarded Samsung retrials and appeals for 14 Samsung devices, including the Samsung Galaxy Prevail, Gem, Indulge, Infuse 4G, Galaxy SII AT&T, Captivate, Continuum, Droid Charge, Epic 4G, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Tab, Nexus S 4G, Replenish and Transform.

The judge will begin the process of recalculating damages on August 25th, and she won’t be considering post-verdict sales evidence and pre-judgment interest until appeals for the aforementioned devices are completed. This many not be the type of victory Samsung wants, but it’s as good as it’s going to get for now. Samsung could see themselves paying even less than the aforementioned $450 million figure by the end of it all, but we won’t know the specifics for a while yet.

[via Bloomberg]