New York: In a massive victory in its patent case against Samsung, technology giant Apple has won more than USD 1 billion after a jury in California found that the South Korean firm violated a series of Apple’s patents related to the software and design of mobile devices.
The nine jurors in the case reached a verdict after answering more than 700 questions in a verdict form over three days of deliberations in a San Jose court in California. According to the verdict, Apple’s patents were valid and the company did not violate any of Samsung’s patents.
Reacting to the verdict, Samsung said it would ask the court to overturn the verdict and also plans to appeal in a higher court. Samsung said the 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.” Samsung said the verdict is not the “final word” in the case or in “battles being waged in courts and tribunals around the world, some of which have already rejected many of Apple’s claims.”
Apple had listed 28 Samsung products in the case and had accused the South Korean company of infringing seven patents. Later Samsung had alleged that some models of the Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch had infringed up on five of its patents.
Jurors decided in favour of Apple and found that Samsung had infringed upon six of the Apple patents, including patents covering physical design of the iPhone and the “pinch-to-zoom” feature in Apple products that magnifies an image.
They found all seven of Apple’s patents valid and also decided that Apple did not violate any of the five patents as alleged by Samsung. Samsung had sought over 422 million dollars from Apple for violation of its patents.
The closely-watched trial provided a rare glimpse into the workings of the companies, particularly Apple, which has remained secretive about is operations.
Apple executives also revealed never before heard stories about the things going on at Apple, including that designers huddle together around a kitchen table at the company’s headquarters to come up with new products and designs. (PTI)