Ondrej Holzman Last Tuesday, a major lawsuit between two tech giants - Apple and Samsung - flared up for the second time. The first act, which culminated more than a year ago, mainly dealt with who was copying whom. Now this part is already cleared up and the money is being dealt with...
Samsung will be beaten financially. Already in August of last year, a nine-member jury sided with Apple, upholding most of its patent complaints against Samsung and awarding the South Korean company a fine of $1,05 billion, which should have gone to Apple as compensation for damages.
The amount was high, although Apple originally demanded more than $1,5 billion more. On the other hand, Samsung also defended itself and demanded 421 million dollars in damages in its counterclaim. But he got nothing at all.
However, the whole matter got complicated this March. Judge Lucy Kohová decided that the amount of compensation will have to be recalculated and the original amount cut by $450 million. At the moment, Samsung still has to pay about 600 million dollars, but only when the new jury, which is currently sitting, will decide what amount it will actually be.
He put together a server to get a better idea of what is really happening and being resolved in the courtroom CNet some basic information.
What was the original dispute about?
The roots of the big court battle go back to 2011, when Apple filed its first lawsuit against Samsung in April, accusing it of copying the look and function of its products. Two months later, Samsung responded with its own lawsuit, claiming that Apple was also infringing some of its patents. The court finally combined the two cases, and they were discussed for almost the whole of August last year. Patent violations, antitrust complaints and so-called trade dress, which is the legal term for the visual appearance of the products, including its packaging.
During the more than three-week trial, a truly enormous amount of various documents and evidence was presented in San Jose, California, often revealing previously undisclosed information about the two companies and their secrets. Apple tried to show that before the iPhone and iPad came out, Samsung didn't make any similar devices. The South Koreans countered with internal documents that indicated that Samsung was working on touchscreen phones with a large rectangular screen long before Apple came up with them.
The verdict of the jury was clear - Apple is right.
Why was a new trial ordered?
Judge Lucy Koh concluded that a year ago, the jury was wrong about the amount Samsung should pay Apple for patent infringement. According to Kohová, there were several mistakes by the jury, which, for example, counted on the wrong time period and mixed up utility model patents and design patents.
Why did the jury have such a difficult time calculating the amount?
The jury members drew up a twenty-page document in which they had to distinguish which devices of the two companies infringed which patents. Since Apple included a large number of Samsung devices in the case, it was not easy for the jury. In the new trial, jurors will have to create a one-page conclusion.
What will the jury decide this time?
Only the financial part of the case is now awaiting a new jury. It has already been decided who copied and how. Apple claims that if Samsung didn't offer similar products, people would be buying iPhones and iPads. So it will be calculated how much money Apple lost because of this. On the one-page document, the jury will calculate the total amount that Samsung owes Apple, as well as break down the amount for individual products.
Where is the new process taking place and how long will it take?
Again, everything takes place in San Jose, home of the Circuit Court for the Northern District of California. The entire process should take six days; On November 12, the jury was selected and on November 19, the courtroom is scheduled to close. The jury will then have time to carefully deliberate and reach a verdict. We could find out about it on November 22, or at the beginning of the next week.
What is at stake?
Hundreds of millions are at stake. Lucy Koh reduced the original decision by $450 million, but the question is how the new jury will decide. It can reward Apple with a similar amount, but also higher or lower.
What products does the new process cover?
The following Samsung devices will be affected: Galaxy Prevail, Gem, Indulge, Infuse 4G, Galaxy SII AT&T, Captivate, Continuum, Droid Charge, Epic 4G, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Tab, Nexus S 4G, Replenish and Transform. For example, it is precisely because of the Galaxy Prevail that the renewed process is taking place, because Samsung was originally supposed to pay almost 58 million dollars for it, which Kohova called a mistake by the jury. Prevail only infringed utility model patents, not design patents.
What does this mean for customers?
Nothing major at the moment. Samsung has already responded to the original decision that it violated Apple's patents, and thus modified its device so that violations no longer occur. Only the possible third process, which is scheduled for March, could mean something, because it concerns, for example, the Galaxy S3, a device that Samsung only released after Apple's first lawsuit.
What does this mean for Apple and Samsung?
Although hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, this does not mean significant problems for such giants as Apple and Samsung, as both generate billions of dollars a year. It will be much more interesting to see if this process sets any precedent by which future patent disputes will be judged.
Why don't the two companies settle out of court?
Although Apple and Samsung held discussions about a possible settlement, it was virtually impossible for them to come to an agreement. Allegedly, both sides have made proposals to license their technologies, but they have always been rejected by the other side. This is about more than just money, it's about honor and pride. Apple wants to prove that Samsung is copying it, which is exactly what Steve Jobs would do. He didn't want to deal with anyone from Google or Samsung.
What will be next?
When the jury decides on the fine for Samsung in the coming days, it will be far from the end of the patent battles between Apple and Samsung. On the one hand, a number of appeals can be expected, and on the other hand, another process is already planned for March, in which both companies have included other products, so the whole thing will practically start again, just with different phones and different patents.
This time, Apple claims that the Galaxy Nexus infringes four of its patents, and the Galaxy S3 and Note 2 models are not without fault either. On the other hand, Samsung does not like the iPhone 5. However, Judge Kohová has already told both camps that the list of accused devices and patent claims must be reduced on the 25th
Samsung allegedly already confessed and started dictating that they will pay less. Phew, I would ask them several times more, you bastards slant-eyed Korean, let them learn that it doesn't work like that. You have to develop, create, just like Apple. And not just to come, copy, sell, and then pay a few bucks from the earnings on disputes that drag on for years.
Business is business and money doesn't stink, so why not? :)
It's all just a game of cat and mouse, Apple won't do without Samsung, because whether it likes it or not, it's still the majority manufacturer of components for its top models (A7, memory, displays).