Apple v. Samsung: Jury Rules for Apple, Recommends Over $1 Billion in Damages
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Hemera/Thinkstock(SAN JOSE, Calif.) — After just three days of deliberation, the jury in the Apple v. Samsung patent-infringement has found Samsung guilty of infringing on a number of Apple software patents, and recommended that Apple be awarded more than $1 billion in damages.
The jury found that the majority of Samsung smartphones violate patents held by Apple. It included features such as one that allows users to tap their screen to zoom in and out of an image, and a scrolling “bounce back” feature.
The jury also said that in a number of cases it believed Samsung’s infringement was willful. It said Samsung should not be awarded any damages in its countersuit against Apple.
The jurors were given a 109-page document with instructions about the case, and eventually arrived at a unanimous verdict.
Apple sued Samsung last year for copying the essential features of its iPad and iPhone, and sought $2 billion in damages. Samsung wanted just over $500 million in a countersuit.
During the trial, Apple argued that Samsung copied numerous aspects of its smartphone and tablet designs, including touch screen gestures, icon design, and overall hardware aesthetic. In the process, Apple had to reveal secrets about the design of its products, including never-before-seen prototypes of iPhones and iPads.
Samsung’s closing argument listed ways its products were different from Apple’s. “Apple [is trying] to prevent its largest competitor from giving consumers what they want: smartphones with big screens,” Samsung’s lead attorney, Charles Verhoeven, said in closing arguments.
Samsung and Apple refused to settle out of court, even though, with so much at stake to be decided by a jury of non-experts, Judge Lucy Koh urged the two companies to come to an agreement. At one point in the case she even asked Apple’s lawyers if they were “smoking crack” after they presented a 75-page briefing.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio