Jury decides Samsung Infringed on Patents, Awards Over $1 Billion to Apple
Posted by aonenetworks On August 27, 2012
After over three weeks of deliberation in court, the first chapter of the Apple v. Samsung case has been closed.
A nine-person jury, after less than a day of deliberation, sided with Apple on most of its claims for patent infringement. The jury went on to also award the iPad maker with over $1 billion in damages. Samsung, who was attempting to claim a little over $420 million in the countersuit it filed, did not receive anything at all.
A few choice decisions in the case stood out:
- Apple was found not guilty of infringement on Samsung patents
- Samsung was found not guilty of violating antitrust laws
- Samsung found guilty of “willful infringement” of five of the six patents
The speed at which the verdict came was a surprise to all, including the lawyers and judge. Several lawyers came to court in casual wear – including an Apple lawyer that was in jeans and a polo shirt – because no one was expecting a decision a day after closing arguments.
Though several members of the jury said that “both sides had convincing arguments,” they said the final blow was when Apple showed the court internal email exchanges between Samsung employees that contained pictures and information about the iPhone and iPad to use as models for their new devices. One particularly damning piece of evidence was an email that contained side by side comparisons of the first Galaxy smartphone and the iPhone with suggestions on how to make the Galaxy “more Apple-esque.” Apple also had several email exchanges that contained pictures of the iPhone and iPad as well as financial reports that were never released to the public, dated months before the first prototypes of the Galaxy were even released internally.
Samsung said that this decision should “not be viewed as a win for Apple,” and it will “lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices.” The company also made it clear that “this is not the final word in this case or in battles being waged in courts.”
Apple posted its own reply to the court decision later that afternoon, saying that the lawsuit wasn’t “about patents or money. [It] was about values,” and that Apple “values originality and innovation and pour [their] lives into making the best products on earth.”
There is more to see and hear, however. The two companies go back to court on September 20th to discuss the banning of Galaxy products and Samsung has made it perfectly clear that this is simply not over.
