Jury orders Samsung to pay $1B to Apple

CBS

(CNET) SAN JOSE, Calif. - It wasn't even close.

After 21 hours of deliberation, a nine-person jury has sided with Apple on a majority of its patent infringement claims against Samsung Electronics. The jury also awarded Apple more than $1 billion in damages.

Apple had originally sought $2.75 billion in damages and although it wasn't unanimous on all counts, the verdict was overwhelmingly in Apple's favor.

The scorecard highlights:

Watch: Did Samsung steal from Apple?
Apple v. Samsung: What's the worst that could happen?
Court bans some Apple, Samsung products in South Korea

The jury informed the court at 2:35 p.m. that they had reached a verdict which was read in front of District Judge Lucy H. Ko as soon as the parties were assembled. The speed of the verdict apparently came as a surprise: One of Apple's lawyers walked into the courtroom wearing a polo shirt and jeans, so clearly he wasn't expecting this today.

The trial, which stretched more than three weeks, was characterized by a bewildering and massive trove of evidence which unveiled some of each companies' biggest secrets. By any measure, this was a complex case which presented jurors with page after page of technical minutiae. To reach their decision jurors had to work through a 20-page document that required them to discern which devices from the two companies infringed on which patents, a daunting task considering Apple accused nearly two dozen of Samsung's devices.

For Apple it was prototypes of iPhone and iPad designs that never saw the light of day, as well as highly-detailed financial data that went far beyond what he company typically made public. There were also e-mails between executives, one of which included mention of high interest in a smaller version of the iPad.

For Samsung, it was a series of damning internal documents, many of which showed that the company looked to Apple's devices for cues when designing its software icons and general features. One such internal report contained numerous side-by-side slides where the company put a pre-release version of its initial Galaxy smartphone next to the iPhone, and offered suggestions on how to make it more similar.

This post originally appeared on CNET.

[KansasCity-2012]

I stopped buying Apple products completely a few weeks ago. I swear off them. They are extremely constraining and the expense is easily able to gather more functionality with any competitor's platform.

Apple is solid, but unable to upgrade and scale into larger more processor intensive applications. What you see is what you get and you are stuck with it.

[alpinequeen]

Like they need the money.

[macazone]

An American jury protecting an American company. Is your legal system that biased? At some time in the future even words 'Key words' will be copyrighted by the big companies and you wont be able to speak them no more. Come on Samsung fight back, I love your products because they are are affordable.

[Well_You_Aint_Me]

The reality of this judgement is, many of those who didn't buy an iPhone weren't going to because of the limited carriers. I didn't get one because I didn't want to be forced to change carriers. I waited for another option including Apple selling iPhones with my carrier, hasn't happened yet. I will stick with my Galaxy and Android.

[tryhonesty]

This is a strong statement about innovation. DO NOT COPY. INNOVATE ON YOUR OWN!
Apple should have received more in damages, but, this is a good start...

[nx2k1975]

I bet you all the people on the jury own an Iphone.

[MythostheWhale]

or they will soon.

[hypnotoad72]

Hurry up appeals.

If Apple could cop Xerox' GUI and mouse, with Xerox losing, then anyone copping a rounded rectangle has hardly done anything worth $1B...

Until then:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-apple-samsung-lawsuit-idUSBRE86O1BX20120725

(Hey Apple, this is a free market - who said Samsung has to charge the same prices to YOU?)

Once these companies bury each other with these games, maybe the civilized can inherit the Earth and move civilization forward again. This increasing plutocracy is going to nobody any good in the end. And if people actually tried making something, they would find out how quickly the deck is stacked against them...

[marcie10000]

This is actually a big deal and I commend the jurors in even understanding the issues. Which most of us cannot.

[SuKeCe]

Thank you for supplying common sense to this topic. Indeed the jury made a gallant effort and came to a unanimous decision.

[Troy_Teixeira]

Apple being awarded that much money just shows how F**ked up our legal system is. Apple is a sorry excuse for a company to even go after Samsung for all this crap in the first place. Apple never has played fair which is the only reason they are where they are today. Fighting unfair and borrowing money from Microsoft kept/keeps Apple in business.

[hypnotoad72]

Agreed.

And it's ironic. Apple copped Xerox's GUI and mouse designs and Xerox lost when it sued.

Funny how our system works...

[MythostheWhale]

this whole thing is very bad reputation for Apple. and they might have been awarded 1B but they might lose more eventually.

[johne37179-2]

The President immediately released a statement telling Apple, "You didn't build that!"

[hypnotoad72]

Let's consider:

1. iOS is built on open source. FreeBSD. A lot of people volunteered their time to make an OS that Apple copped.

2. Apple's designers engineered a chassis, whose schematics were shipped to China and then built. Apart from a truck driver, pilot, airplane builder, road paver, a few management types, and the slave laborers who slopped together the thing...

3. If you tried to build something on your own and then researched patent laws, your eyes would pop wide open very quickly... but you find it more fun to spew inane jokes...

So, if your post is a "Good One", a little REALITY injected should make it far better.

You're welcome.

[GoUnion86]

@hypnotoad72

If you promise not to sue me, I'll say it.

" Zing "

[modutile]

I guess it was the jury the one "smoking crack". It will be appealed and Samsung will get off.