Apple wins $1.05B in Samsung case

Apple wins $1.05B in Samsung case

SAN JOSE – Apple had a big but not complete win in its landmark case with Samsung, winning damages of $1.051 billion from the jury plus a verdict of willful infringement on many counts. The willfulness count opens the door to the judge awarding punitive damages later.

Apple sought as much as $2.71 billion in damages from the jury and said it expected to get at least $500 million if any infringement was found.

The nine-person San Jose jury found most of the accused Samsung phones violated most of Apple's two design and three utility patents. However, Samsung's tablets do not infringe an iPad design patent, it said.

The decision validates the strength of four of the five Apple patents in the case, the exception being a design patent on the industrial design of the iPad. The jury also found Samsung violated registered and unregistered trade dress on the original and 3GS iPhones, but did not find Apple's iPad trade dress valid.

Apple did not infringe any of the five utility patents Samsung charged it infringed, including two patents Samsung considered part of the 3G cellular standard. However, Apple was not able to prove its allegations that the patents were invalid or that Samsung had broken contractual agreements or antitrust law with how Samsung pursued the patents and their licensing.

Apple and Samsung both worked hard to show the other side's patents were invalid, bringing in many examples of what they claimed was prior art and expert witnesses including top academics. In the end the jury found all the patents from both sides were valid.

The jury's verdict came in at 2:30 pm Pacific time today. Judge Lucy H. Koh had the verdict form which consists of 33 complex multipart questions read into the record at about 4 pm Pacific. Both sides are now reviewing the verdict for any possible errors.

Jurors had to answer each charge of infringement for each accused device. In the case of accusations against Samsung, charges were made against both the parent company in Korea and two U.S. subsidiaries.

In most cases, the jury found most of the accused Samsung phones violated Apple's two design and three utility patents. They also found in most cases inducement to infringe and willfulness.

The strength of the jury's decision for Apple and against Samsung could weigh heavily on any decision to set punitive damages based on the findings of willfulness, a determination the judge will make later.

In the meantime, Apple will be more likely to press the patents in this case in other cases around the globe as well as in private negotiations with Android smartphone makers.

More details to follow
TAG:Samsung Apple Patents Infringement Smartphones Handsets IPhone IPad Court Verdict