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The Apple vs Samsung lawsuit has come to a close in a US court, with Apple awarded $1bn in damages after the jury decided Samsung had infringed on a number of the firm’s designs.
Samsung is of course now likely to appeal. It’s not a straightforward case, Apple is considered to have had the advantage whilst being on ‘home ground’, and this ruling has not been followed elsewhere – a South Korea court said both firms copied each other, whilst a British judge announced that Samsung’s Galaxy tablets weren’t ‘cool’ enough to be confused with Apple’s iPad.
In this battle of the tech titans, Apple claimed that Samsung had infringed upon a number of patents that cover both how smartphones work, and how they look.
Perhaps the most infamous implication of this ruling is the fact that it covers rectangular smartphones with rounded edges and backs – Samsung cannot be the only firm infringing here, and it seems hard to see how such a design is justifiably patentable. Yet here we are.
Samsung’s counter-claims were all rejected – it also had claims of patent infringement – and now the firm has a $1bn dollar fine to pay, and presumably a lot of product to redesign or bin. What lies ahead for Samsung now if it can’t successfully appeal?
In a statement, Samsung said the verdict was a loss for consumers. "It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices."
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