In the ongoing feud between Apple and Samsung fueled by patent lawsuits, Apple comes out victorious… well, sort of. The outcome of the latest court case awards Apple much less than it was seeking and lightly slaps its hand for using a Samsung patent.
A California jury awarded the iPhone maker $119.62 million in a patent lawsuit with Samsung over copying smart phone features. Apple was originally seeking $2.2 billion in this lawsuit. Meanwhile Samsung was countersuing for $6 million for a patent Apple copied in making the iPhone 4 and 5. The jurors awarded Samsung just $158,400 for their case, bringing Apple’s award down further.
Samsung tried to make Google the central focus of their defense since Google makes the Android software many manufacturers, including Samsung, use as their smartphone operating systems. Samsung argued that Goolge was Apple’s real target in this latest case.
"Though this verdict is large by normal standards, it is hard to view this outcome as much of a victory for Apple," Santa Clara University law professor Brian Love said in an AP story this morning. "This amount is less than 10 percent of the amount Apple requested and probably doesn't surpass by too much the amount Apple spent litigating this case."
The award may be adjusted slightly in favor of Apple. Jurors were ordered to return to court Monday to continue deliberations on a minor matter that could result in a higher award for Apple. Because the jury was still empaneled, jurors were prevented from talking publicly about the case.
The two companies have previously duked it out in court over software features used in smartphones and devices. In that case, Apple was awarded nearly $1 billion in damages two years ago. That case is currently under appeal and Friday’s decision will most likely go to appeal as well.
"The Apple-Samsung case is a legal boxing match that may have a few more rounds to go yet," says Neil Mawston, executive director of the global wireless practice at research firm Strategy Analystics.
What do you think? Should Apple and Samsung continue battling in court? Or should they move on and focus on new innovative products?
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