In what can be called as one of the biggest patent cases in decades, Apple Inc scored a sweeping legal victory over Samsung on Friday that could have huge market repercussions.
The US jury found that Samsung had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and awarded Apple USD 1.051 billion in damages.
The verdict — which came much sooner than expected — could lead to an outright ban on sales of key Samsung products and will likely solidify Apple’s dominance of the exploding mobile computing market.
Shares in Apple, which just this week became the biggest company by market value in history, climbed almost 2 per cent to a record high of $US675 in after-hours trade.
Brian Love, a Santa Clara law school professor, described it as a crushing victory for Apple: “This is the best-case scenario Apple could have hoped for.”
The jury deliberated for less than three days before delivering the verdict on seven Apple patent claims and five Samsung patent claims – suggesting that the nine-person panel had little difficulty in concluding that Samsung had copied the iPhone and the iPad.
Billions of dollars in future sales hang in the balance.
Apple’s charges that Samsung copied its designs and features are widely viewed as an attack on Google and its Android software, which drives Samsung’s devices and has become the most-used mobile software.
The fight began last year when Apple sued Samsung in multiple countries, accusing the South Korean company of slavishly copying the iPhone and iPad. Samsung countersued. Apple had sought more than USD 2.5 billion in damages from Samsung, which has disputed that figure.