Second Apple v. Samsung Patent Trial Ends With A Partial Victory For Apple, But Far From What It Wanted

from the fizzled-out dept

While Apple "won" this trial, Apple simply lost on damages. There's the best way to describe a number that's such a low proportion of what it was seeking.



From the trial's very beginning, Apple lawyers said that the whole purpose of Samsung presenting two patents of its own and asking for the "small" sum of $6 million was a cynical one: to convince the jurors that patents aren't worth that much.



If that was Samsung's goal—today's verdict is "mission accomplished." Considering litigation at this level is something of a war of attrition; Samsung has shown that it can basically fight Apple to a standstill. It's doubtful that $120 million would cover Apple's legal bill for even this litigation, much less the whole worldwide patent war it launched.

The second round of Apple v. Samsung patent battles hasn't received quite the same attention, and it appears that it mostly fizzled out with the jury as well. In a late Friday verdict, Apple technically won on two patents which the jury found Samsung infringed. However, three others it found that Samsung did not infringe. Meanwhile, Apple was found to have infringed on one of Samsung's patents. Apple had asked for $2.2 billion -- but the jury awarded it just $119.6 million. Still a significant sum, but only 5% of what Apple was seeking. As Joe Mullin notes:Now, can we go back to actually competing in the marketplace? Eh, doubtful. This isn't over yet.

Filed Under: patents

Companies: apple, samsung