Apple overwhelmed Samsung's patent case

2012-08-27 07:32

Apple convinced jurors in its case against Samsung by presenting a slick argument and company executives. (AP)

Los Angeles - The trial began on 30 July. Apple presented top executives who testified in coherent narratives, and revealed damaging internal Samsung documents that showed the company modifying its products to be more like the iPhone.

Samsung's case was far less slick. Koh gave both sides 25 hours of trial time, but Samsung lawyers used up too much time in the beginning and couldn't cross examine some Apple witnesses toward the end. Samsung employees testified through interpreters, or in video depositions that alienated jurors.

"Instead of witnesses, they sent you lawyers," Apple attorney Harold McElhinny said during his closing argument.

And while Samsung's own patents were a major part of behind-the-scenes negotiations, at trial its lawyers struggled to present them on an equal footing with Apple's intuitively comprehensible design and feature patents.

Samsung could have opted for a separate trial on its patents, but declined. Its lawyers may have believed that placing its own allegations in front of the same jury would balance out any toxic impact from breaches of Apple patents.

It didn't work. Samsung violated six of Apple's patents, the jury said. Whether damages will be tripled is a decision for Koh in the coming weeks.

Samsung asked for up to $399m on its standards patents. It got nothing.

Samsung has vowed to keep fighting. It could get an appeals court to delay any potential sales ban, which would give it time to bring new, modified products to the market.

But barring a reversal on appeal, Apple now has a clear verdict: How it values its intellectual property is more than just a theory.

- Reuters