Ok. So it is decided. Apple triumph in the landmark patent dispute. The nine person jury agreed with Apple’s claims that Samsung has infringed Apple’s patent and copied the design of Apple products, wake to beat the popular iPad and iPhone. The jury decided against Samsung claims that Apple infringed Samsung’s patent.
Apple was awarded $1.05 billion, half of $2.5 billion that Apple requested. If the Jury ruling survives the appeal than Samsung business all over the world are likely to get affected.
Apple and Samsung both are key players in the Smartphone and the Tablet Market. Till now, the ruling has not affected the sales of the Samsung products but Apple has requested to ban the Samsung products, which have been copied from Apple.
“While a billion [dollars] is significant, Samsung has the balance sheet to cover it,” said Demetrios Anaipakos, a patent lawyer. “What’s more substantial is an injunction. If Samsung is required to pull devices off the market, that will be much more expensive.”
The jury found infringement by Samsung in six of seven patents raised by Apple in the suit. In five cases, the infringement was willful, the jury said.
After the victory, the Apple’s shares have taken a huge jump. “Today’s verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer,” Samsung said Friday night after the ruling. “It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices. It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies.”
According to Craig Timberg and Hayley Tsukayama of The Washington Post, the ruling could lead to higher licensing fees, which companies pay one another to use proprietary technology. Such higher costs could eventually raise consumer prices and send more profits to Apple should it choose to license its technology.
“Clearly Apple is the winner here in financial terms, with things coming from licensing down the road,” said Al Hilwa, a technology analyst with International Data Corp.
He predicted that the net effect would be price increases for consumers. “Someone has to swallow these licensing fees,” he said.
