Apple’s $1.05 Billion Dollar Victory Over Samsung Could Hurt Smartphone Innovation and the Android Platform
On Friday, a federal jury found Seoul-based Samsung Electronic Co. guilty of stealing Apple’s patented technology to produce and market smartphones. According to industry analysts the $1.05 Billion victory over Samsung sends a clear message to other market competitors: if you try and steal Apple’s tech, they’ll come after you and you’ll probably end up losing billions of dollars.
“Some of these device makers might end up saying, ‘We love Android, but we really don’t want to fight with Apple anymore,'” said Christopher Marlett, CEO of MDB Capital Group, an investment bank specializing in intellectual property. “I think it may ultimately come down to Google having to indemnify these guys, if it wants them to continue using Android.”
Of course, this is all contingent upon the verdict standing up against an appeal. Samsung vowed to fight the verdict and went as far to tell the judge that they intend on asking her to throw out the verdict. Here’s what Samsung head lawyer John Quinn had to say in his own words:
“This decision should not be allowed to stand because it would discourage innovation and limit the rights of consumers to make choices for themselves. This is by no means the final word in this case, patent law should not be twisted so as to give one company a monopoly over the shape of smartphones.”
As many of you remember, the saga began when Apple filed its patent infringement lawsuit back in April of 2011 and demanded $2.5 billion from its biggest competitor, Samsung. This led Samsung to slap their own lawsuit back at Apple while also asking for $399 million in their own damages.
After only three days of deliberation, the jury rejected all Samsung’s claims against Apple, but also decided against some of Apple’s claims involving the two dozen Samsung devices at issue. The decision found several of Samsung products to illegally use Apple creations as the “bounce-back” feature when a user scrolls to an end image, and the ability to zoom text with a tap of a finger.
As the decision stands today its consequences could effect the smartphone market in many ways. Other smartphone manufacturers that mainly depend on Android could be more hesitant to use the open software for fear of being hit with a lawsuit.
This is still the beginning of a long rough road for Samsung. We’re sure an appeal is already in the works, but the loss in monetary damages and reputation can already be felt in the industry.
We’ll continue to keep you updated as more information surfaces.
The smartest thing I’ve read since the verdict. I get patent laws and protecting your shit, but this is twisted.
My personal thought here. Though Apple may or may not be right, this is just one other reason I don’t like Apple products.
I personally feel that once you’ve bought it, it’s yours, and you own it. The original manufacturer no longer has rights to what you do with the device or how you do it.
What I’m getting at is that once I own it, if I jailbreak it so I can do other stuff with it, then I should be free to do so. I consider it morally wrong of the company to force an update to return the device to stock. I also think if you’re paying for a data plan, you should be free to tether your phone all you want. Once yo go over that cap, then your provider can either hit you with overages, or throttle your bandwidth.
That’s part of the reason I buy Android, and use T-Mobile. They’re the most friendly to rooting, and to me seem to be an easier company to deal with on other issues.
While I could be wrong, I think Apple’s biggest reason for suing Samsung is simply that Samsung has dominated the market with devices that offer better features and performance than Apple and Apple doesn’t like losing market share.