The long-running smartphone patent-infringement dispute between Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co is beginning to attract a huge deal of attention from around the globe. Apple Inc has contacted the South Korean company and it wants to be paid about $1 billion.
The U.S. District Judge and considerations to be made
Lucy Koh, The U.S. District Judge, in making his final judgment is expected to pay close attention the fact that Samsung infringed three of Apple’s design patents and some two utility patents. The hearing was conducted in a court in San Jose, California.
Bill Lee, Apple’s lawyer, while addressing a number of journalists disclosed that the major task ahead was to establish the damages Apple would be leaving with.
An analyst following closely on the matter has stated that the jury has quite much top reflect over. According to him, the jury needs to make the determination on whether the damages have to be paid for in terms of the infringed components or on the whole device. Samsung is appealing to the judge to limit the damages to $28 million.
Intricacies of the case
In addressing jurors, Lee said that most of the lawsuits took quite a long period of time. He asked them to reflect over the state of affairs way back in 2006 where the flip phones, sliders and other cell phones looked like before the iPhone belong to Apple was finally launched.
Reports indicate that Samsung generated $1 billion in profit and $3.3 billion in revenue from quite a large number of phones that infringed the three design patents of Apple. That was without factoring in the profits that Samsung generated after it infringed the two utility patents belonging to Apple.
In 2012, a jury verdict of almost $1.05 billion was made. However, it has been whittled down by a trail that was conducted in 2013.
Projections have been made that the case might continue for a number of months to come. The tech industry has its eye fixed on the case wanting to find out exactly how the court makes its ruling.
Samsung lawyer John Quinn stated, “They’re seeking profits on the entire phone, but Apple’s patents do not cover the entire phone. They are entitled only to the profits of the infringing components and not on anything that’s inside the phone.”