Finally after an year of hardcore lawsuits against each
other on Friday the jury decided that Samsung had in fact
breached patent laws and in fact copied
apple's iPhone and iPad. The jury ordered Samsung to pay
Apple $1.05 billion. An appeal is expected.
Apple had filed this case back in April 2011and had seek
help from highest paid patent lawyers to demand $2.5 billion
from Samsung Samsung in return back filed a case against apple
demanding $399 million.But verdict, however, belonged to Apple, as the jury
rejected all Samsung's claim against Apple.
Jurors also decided against some of
Apple's claims involving the two dozen Samsung devices at issue, declining to
award the full $2.5 billion Apple demanded.
Friday's jury decision that
the six infringed Apple patents including three covering the shape of the
iPhone and on-screen icons are valid may make it harder for handset makers to
enter markets with gadgets that look and work too much like a market leader's.
The only patent the jury
found Samsung didn't infringe relates to design of a tablet. Throughout the
trial, Samsung's lawyers frequently remarked that Apple shouldn't be given a
monopoly on a rectangle with rounded corners.
Samsung conceded that Apple makes great products but said it
doesn't have a monopoly on the design of rectangle phones with rounded corners
that it claimed it created.
The trial came after each side filed a blizzard of legal
motions and refused advisories by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh to settle the
dispute out of court.
"Today's verdict should not be viewed as a win for
Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer," Samsung said. "It
will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher
prices."
The verdict launches the next phase of the patent battle.
Several lawyers following the case predict Apple and Samsung, among the world's
largest and richest technology companies, could take appeals all the way to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. trial is just the latest skirmish between the two
tech giants over product designs. Previous legal battles were fought in
Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany.
The U.S. case is one of some 50 lawsuits among myriad
telecommunications companies jockeying for position in the burgeoning $219
billion market for smartphones and computer tablets.
It''s quite impressive.
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