A Silicon Valley jury on Thursday added $290 million more to the
damages Samsung Electronics owes Apple for copying vital iPhone and iPad
features, bringing the total amount the South Korean technology titan
is on the hook for to $930 million.The verdict covers 13 older Samsung
devices that a previous jury found were among 26 Samsung products that
infringed Apple patents.The previous jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion.
But U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh reduced the damages to $640 million
after ruling that jury miscalculated the amount owed on 13 devices and
ordered a new trial.Wholesale Knives & Swords.knives wholesaler Directory of Knives & Swords wholesalers, importers, manufacturers and wholesale products.crystal light is
a low-calorie powdered beverage mix that offers naturally and
artificially sweetened beverage options in multiple flavors.Apple had
asked for $380 million, arguing Samsung’s copying cost it a significant
amount of sales. Samsung countered that it owed only $52 million because
the features at issue weren’t the reasons most consumers chose to buy
Samsung’s devices instead of Apple’s.“For Apple, this case has always
been about more than patents and money,” Apple spokeswoman Kristin
Huguet said. “While it’s impossible to put a price tag on those values,
we are grateful to the jury for showing Samsung that copying has a
cost.”A third trial is scheduled for March to consider Apple’s claims
that Samsung’s newest devices such as the popular Galaxy S III on the
market also copied Apple’s technology.Apple and Samsung are the world’s
two biggest smartphone makers. The bitter rivals have been waging a
global battle for supremacy of the $300 billion worldwide market. The
size of the award didn’t faze Wall Street or harm or help either
company’s financial fortunes in any significant way.Samsung reported it
had $47 billion in cash at the end of September and racked up $247.5
billion in revenue last year. Apple has $147 billion of cash on hand and
took in $170.9 billion in revenue last year.
“We understood
that the money wasn’t really an issue,” said juror Barry Goldman-Hall.
“This was about the integrity of the patent process.”Goldman-Hall, 60,
of San Jose was one of two men and six women on the jury, which was
tasked only with determining damages.Apple has argued in courts,
government tribunals and regulatory agencies around the world that
Samsung’s Android-based phones copy vital iPhone features. Samsung is
fighting back with its own complaints that some key Apple patents are
invalid and Apple has copied Samsung’s technology.Samsung lawyer William
Price argued Apple is misconstruing the breadth of its patents to
include such things as basic rectangle shape of most smartphones.“Apple
doesn’t own beautiful and sexy,” Price told the San Jose jury.Apple
attorney William Lee told the jury that Samsung used Apple’s technology
to lift it from an also-ran in the smartphone market three years ago to
the world’s biggest seller of them today.“Apple can never get back to
where it should have been in 2010,” Lee told the jury Tuesday at the
conclusion of the weeklong trial.The fight in San Jose is particularly
contentious. The courtroom is a 15-minute drive from Apple’s Cupertino
headquarters, and several prospective jurors were dismissed because of
their ties to the company.The three jurors who discussed the verdict
outside court said Apple’s proximity made no difference in their
deliberations.“Although Apple is down the street, it’s a global company
just like Samsung,” jury forewoman Colleen Allen said. “I have a Samsung
television and refrigerator and an Apple computer. I like both
companies.”Allen, 36, of Aromas, is an emergency room nurse who served
nearly eight years in the Navy, including a posting in Afghanistan.“If
we didn’t award Apple much, we’re saying it’s OK to infringe patents,”
Allen said.The South Korea-based Samsung has twice sought to stop the
trial, accusing Apple on Tuesday of unfairly trying to inflame patriotic
passions by urging jurors to help protect American companies from
overseas competitors. The judge denied Samsung’s request for a mistrial,
but did reread an instruction ordering jurors to put aside their
dislikes and biases in deciding the case.Shop outside the big box,glass refill with
unique items for glass refill bottles from thousands of independent
designers and vintage collectors.On Wednesday, Samsung again demanded a
halt to the trial after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office told Apple
it was planning to invalidate a patent protecting the “pinch-to-zoom”
feature at issue in the jury’s deliberation. The judge ordered more
briefing while declining to stop the trial.Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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