Well, a verdict was reached in a San Jose, CA courtroom about an hour ago. The verdict was an overwhelming victory for Apple. Frankly, I would have preferred a more balanced verdict.
Verdict of the Case
- Jury finds Samsung infringement of Apple utility, design patents for some (though not all) products
- Jury upholds Apple utility, design patents
- Jury upholds Apple trade dress '983
- Jury finds Samsung "diluted" Apple's registered iPhone, iPhone 3 and "Combination iPhone" trade dress on some products, not on others
- No Apple infringement of Samsung utility patents
- Jury found Samsung violated antitrust law by monopolizing markets related to the UMTS standard
Damages
- $1.05 billion in TOTAL damages assessed to Samsung
- No damages against Apple from Samsung's countersuit
It is virtually impossible for ANY Smartphone manufacturer to not infridge on one of Apple's patents. To avoid killing all competition in the phone market, this is something that should be overlooked, but with this condition: the phone manufacturer uses INNOVATION in designing their product. Samsung certainly should have been more innovative and Apple should have been more forgiving.
I believe the verdict is a loss for the competitive market for Smartphones. Apple will now use this case as a precedence for future litigation against the other Smartphone manufacturers. This is not a good day for the future innovativeness of the Smartphone market.
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