It took less than three days of deliberation, approximately 22 hours, 109 pages of jury instructions, and a verdict form with nearly 700 individual questions for the jury to find Samsung guilty of infringing a number of Apple’s patents. As a result, Apple was awarded $1.05 billion in damages—nearly half of the $2.5 billion Apple requested—which is one of the largest intellectual property awards ever. Furthermore, there is speculation that Apple’s victory will provide the mobile (and computer) giant ample ammunition to launch similar attacks on its remaining mobile-phone rivals.
The jury found that Samsung infringed six out of the seven patents at issue, and that Apple didn’t violate any of Samsung’s five patents at issue in the case.
This outcome will likely have significant effects on how smartphones and tablets are designed by the growing number of companies that manufacture and sell the devices. The decision makes it harder for competitors to enter the market with devices that look and function too much like Apple’s products.
Many believe the war is not over between Apple and Samsung, as speculations suggest that each company will likely take appeals all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Stay tuned.
