Apple wallops Samsung in smartphone battle

SAN JOSE — In a ruling likely to shape the smartphone landscape for years, Apple scored a huge legal victory over Samsung, prevailing in all key areas of their intellectual property case and winning more than a billion dollars in damages against the Korean electronics giant.

After less than twenty-four hours of deliberation, the jury reached its verdict Friday afternoon. Apple sued Samsung to punish the second largest smartphone and tablet designer for copying Apple products and violating Apple’s intellectual property.

Samsung denied Apple’s claims and said Apple was simply trying to shut Samsung out of the smartphone and tablet market. Samsung also sued Apple for infringing Samsung patents on photo messaging and 3G wireless connections. When the question went to the jury afternoon, Apple was asking for over $2 billion in damages.

The court was full as the completed jury form was read out loud. All were stoic and silent as the jury revealed it had found multiple Samsung tablets and smartphones violated Apple’s patents and registered trade dresses.

Furthermore, the jury upheld the validity of all Apple patents. In contrast, while Samsung’s patents were also validated, none of Apple’s products infringe on Samsung patents. In the end, the jury awarded Apple $1,049,343,540, and Samsung received zero monetary damages.

Judge Koh informed the jury that they were now free to discuss the case with anyone or choose to remain silent. The court librarian had prepared binders on all of the media coverage, as the judge had promised a few weeks ago.

Apple attorney Michael Jacobs told Judge Koh that he and his fellow legal team appreciate how hard the court worked on the case. “And Samsung does too,” added lawyer Kevin Johnson representing Samsung in this case. Judge Koh informed them that she saw hard each side worked on the case. A hearing on the consequences of the jury verdict will be held next month.

Camera crews were posted outside the courthouse gates to interview anyone who wanted to talk. Unfortunately for the media, the jury left through the back, and the lawyers quietly exited through the gate opposite the cameras.