Apple and Samsung head to court with billions at stake

Published Jul 30 2012, 09:33 BST  |  By Andrew Laughlin

A sprawling legal dispute between rival consumer electronics giants Apple and Samsung will today go before a jury, with billions of dollars in the balance.

Apple and Samsung, the world's two largest makers of smartphones, have been locked in a globe-spanning patent battle, after each accused the other of copying their technology.

Backdrop to the dispute is a contest for supremacy in the highly lucrative market for mobile devices, in which Samsung and Apple have been vying for the top spot over the past year.



The legal fight between the two firms started in 2011 when Apple sued Samsung in a San Jose, California federal court, accusing its Korean rival of having "slavishly copied" the iPhone and iPad with its new generation of devices. However, Samsung quickly counter-sued.

Despite the fact that Apple buys many of its components from Samsung, the two have failed to agree cross-licensing deals, even after the courts repeatedly tried to broker peace talks between their respective bosses.

Their dispute will now go before a jury, in a process which could offer a fascinating insight into the decision-making process and deals made by the two firms via documents and testimony.

Should one party be found guilty by the jury, then it could trigger billions of dollars in payments from one to the other, along with sales bans for certain devices.

According to documents filed by Apple with the court, the US firm believes that Samsung should pay $2.525 billion (£1.63bn) in damages, after it allegedly opted to "compete by copying Apple".

Apple feels that this 'imitation' enabled Samsung to catch up and then overtake Apple as the world's largest maker of smartphones, costing Apple $500 million in profit due to the alleged activity.

Alongside the damages, Apple also wants a permanent injunction to prevent any further violations.

Apple says: "Samsung must play by the rules. It must invent its own stuff. Its flagrant copying and massive infringement must stop."

However, Samsung has countered with its own filing, accusing Apple of attempting "to stifle legitimate competition and limit consumer choice to maintain its historically exorbitant profits".

Samsung said that it is Apple, in fact, that should pay for its alleged use of Samsung's patented technology, which Samsung claims enabled Apple to "become a successful participant in the mobile telecommunications industry".

"Apple's overreaching claim for damages is a natural extension of its attempts to monopolise the marketplace," says Samsung.

"It seeks to collect 'lost profits' despite the fact that no-one buys phones because they have 'bounce back' feature or other manifestations of Apple's alleged inventions."

Apple claims that it is victim to seven patent breaches, along with trade violations. The firm alleges that designs for the bodies of the original iPhone and iPad were copied by Samsung with its more recent devices.

However, Samsung is expected to seek to undermine the accusations, by showing that it was already working on rounded devices featuring full-screens and a single 'home' button before the iPhone was launched in 2007.

The two companies will now go to trial today (July 30) before US district judge Lucy Koh and a 10-strong jury.

The trial is expected to last at least four weeks to complete, and a unanimous decision must be reached for Samsung or Apple to win their case.