Sanjay Bhagat
Frequent Flyer
Apple had pretty great last few hours as a jury in United States found Samsung had infringed upon several iPad, iPhone patentsand awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages.
The decision comes after months of attack and counter-attacke from both the companies in Judge Koh’s courtroom, but it was Apple that prevailed at last.
This decision will have severe impact on the smartphone industry in the US, and could leadto the ban of several Samsung devices in the country. It might also lead to a new set of patent cases from the iPhone maker against other Android smartphone makers.
Earlier, Apple has charged Samsung of copying design and feature of iPad and iPhone .
All of Apple’s patents were held valid by the jury, and all but one were held to be infringed by Samsung devicesand five of the seven patentswere held to be willfully infringed by Samsung.
Samsung stated that Apple’s massive win in the case was “a loss for the American consumer” and it was “not a final word” in the case.
Samsung statement:
“Today’s verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer. It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices. It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners,or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies. Consumershave the right to choices, and they know what they are buying when they purchase Samsung products. This is not the final word in this case or in battles being waged in courts and tribunals around the world, some of which have already rejected many of Apple’s claims. Samsung will continue to innovate and offer choices for the consumer.”
Apple statement after the win:
“We are grateful to the jury for their service and for investing the time to listen to our story and we were thrilled to be able to finally tell it. The mountain of evidence presented during the trial showed that Samsung’s copying went far deeper than even we knew. The lawsuits between Apple and Samsung were about much more than patents or money. They were about values. At Apple, we value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. We makethese products to delight our customers, not for our competitors to flagrantly copy. We applaud the court for findingSamsung’s behavior willful and for sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn’t right.”
In addition, charged with today’swin, Apple is getting ready to filefor a sales injunction against Samsung within the next seven days. The judge has set a September 20 hearing on the proposed injunction.
Apple wins 1 billion dollar in patent suit against Samsung
