Federal court today ruled that Samsung and Apple do not need to make public financial details they submitted to US court during their patent war.

The Federal U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington changed the a lower court ordering which ordered the two electronics giants to disclose the details of the financial profits and make those public.

“We recognize the importance of protecting the public’s interest in judicial proceedings and of facilitating its understanding of those proceedings,” the three-judge appeals panel decided. “That interest, however, does not extend to mere curiosity about the parties’ confidential information where that information is not central to a decision on the merits.”

This is court ruling is definitely a relief for both the companies as they strictly opposing the earlier order.

But for Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition this court order is a real disappointment. Scheer argued that

“If all the cases that come after this one adhere loosely to the legal requirements articulated in this decision, then those trials will be infinitely more open and transparent than otherwise would have been the case.”

Samsung and Apple are fighting for patent cases in different courts across the globe. When Apple is suing Samsung mostly for it’s software patents, Samsung on the other hand suing Apple for different wireless related patents. Last year an US court awarded Apple over $1 billion, but U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh later slashed the award and ordered a retrial on some of the damages.