Saturday, August 25, 2012

Apple Wins $1 Billion in Samsung Patent Trial

A billion dollars ain't no chump change either.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Apple Wins Big in Patent Case: Jury Finds Samsung Mobile Devices Infringed Six Apple Patents, Awards $1.05 Billion in Damages":
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Nine jurors delivered a sweeping victory to Apple Inc. in a high-stakes court battle against Samsung Electronics Co., awarding the Silicon Valley company $1.05 billion in damages and providing ammunition for more legal attacks on its mobile-device rivals.

Jurors Friday found that Samsung infringed all but one of the seven patents at issue in the case—a patent covering the physical design of the iPad. They found all seven of Apple's patents valid—despite Samsung's attempts to have them thrown out. They also decided Apple didn't violate any of the five patents Samsung asserted in the case.

The damage award is shy of Apple's request for more than $2.5 billion, but much larger than Samsung's estimates and still ranking among the largest intellectual-property awards on record.

"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."

An Apple spokeswoman said, "The mountain of evidence presented during the trial showed that Samsung's copying went far deeper than even we knew."
More at that top link.

And a bunch of commentary at Techmeme.

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