Apple looks set to request that the courts ban certain Samsung smartphones or tablets from sale in the United States, with a final hearing set to take place towards the end of September.
Although this particular chapter in the Apple vs. Samsung battle has come to an end with a nine person jury ruling in the majority of the instances that were brought before them, that Samsung were indeed guilty of infringing on patents that were owned by Apple Inc. The case was rather peculiar in the fact that until the jury actually came out of deliberation and announced their decisions, nobody could really tell which way the outcome was going to sway, but with Samsung now liable for $1.05 billion in damages to Apple, there is no longer a doubt.
Apple suing Samsung, Samsung suing Apple back, Google buying Motorola (and its patent portfolio) and suing Apple, the patent wars are really starting to heat up again!
Apple maybe riding on a wave of unprecedented pre-release interest in their next-generation iPhone that is due to be announced next month, but it isn't all sunshine and happiness for the Cupertino-based technology giants. Although the next few weeks represents an extremely exciting time for Apple and all those who are involved in the iPhone project, legal representatives of the company are still locked in an ongoing patent battle with Samsung with proceedings set to come to an end at some point next week.
As Apple and Samsung's legal teams gear themselves up for another hard day in court, we sit patiently to see what little gems of information are next on the agenda to be released into the public domain. We have already seen Apple reveal prototype design information about the design iterations they went through in the early iPhone and iPad development stages, as well as a testimony from Phil Schiller and Scott Fortstall about how the company actually decided to design and build the two mobile devices.
The Apple vs. Samsung case in San Jose is really heating up right now, and after hearing Phil Schiller's piece yesterday on the evolution of the iPhone and iPad, Apple has pulled the proverbial cat out of the bag by revealing internal Samsung documents in court. Said documents are significant to the case because they offer side-by-side comparisons of the iPhone the Korean company's Galaxy S smartphone.
We should all know by now that Apple and Samsung are locked in a trial centered around a patent infringement case that has been bubbling away for the better part of the last eighteen months. With various allegations being made from either side, the dispute is primarily focused on the alleged patent and design infringements, with Apple said to be looking for $2 billion in compensation from the Korean electronics giants. As is usually the case with trials that center around this kind of thing, nothing is ever straight forward with Samsung vehemently disputing the claims and making their own accusations aimed at Apple.
There has been enough back and forth over the last eighteen months between Apple, Samsung and the courts to ensure that we have heard the words patent and infringement enough times to last us for the rest of our lives. It hasn't been a secret that the two companies have been in major conflict over various technologies and features that have been included in Samsung's tablet and smartphone products, as well as some questions over the design of their releases. Samsung obviously hasn’t taken the situation lying down and although Apple is one of their largest component customers, they have chosen to fight the allegations head on, with it eventually ending up at trial this week.
For those of us who are on the outside looking in, it appears that the war of the patents between Apple and Samsung isn't likely to come to any kind of mutually beneficial end any time soon. Both companies are exercising their right to accuse the other of infringing on patents which they individually own, claims that have resulted in certain Samsung devices being banned from sale in the United States. Samsung had earlier appealed the decision but found themselves on the wrong end of the result as the hearing judge decided not to overturn the decision in favor of a trial.
As part of the ongoing court battles with Samsung, Apple is seeking to recover a whopping $2.5 billion in damages for patent infringement, as well as $30 per device sold by Samsung, according to new court filings.
