In the trial of the century, a clash of titans between Cupertino,
California based Apple and South Korean tech giant Samsung, Apple has
come out on top as announced by CNET News Eric Mack in “Apple
wins big in Samsung patent battle: Did you call it?”, published August 24, 2012 4:33 PM PDT by Eric Mack, CNET
News.
So big was this Legal ruling that it made the news in the Jamaica Observer and the Jamaica Gleaner in the article “What
Apple’s US$1B victory means for consumers”,
published Monday, August 27, 2012, The Jamaica Observer and “Epic
Patent Trial Over iPhone Technology Wraps Up”,
published Wednesday August 22, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner.
For those of you who love Apple to bits, it’s a follow-on of legal attempts to block the Samsung
Galaxy Tablet in the EU and other significant markets in the world as stated in my
blog article entitled “Apple
blocks Samsung Galaxy Tab in EU - Dancehall Hero's Revenge of the Sith”.
Apple has won the most publicized, if not the biggest Patent Battle of
its life against Samsung as it relates to infringement on several of its design
patents. The award of nearly US$1.05 billion or $1,051,855,000 exactly as
stated in the article “Apple
wins big: Samsung violated Apple patents, must pay $1.05 billion in damages,
court rules (updated)” published AUGUST 24, 2012
BY ANDREW COUTS, Digitaltrends as well as “Disaster
for Samsung: Jury awards Apple $1.05 billion in patent case” published Aug 24, 2012 - 4:16PM PT By Jeff John Roberts, Gigaom is for Samsung's violation of certain
specific patents owned by Apple.
Apple’s action, much storied in the Media and Technology blogsphere,
came to light in the US of A when they tried to block sales of the Samsung
Galaxy SIII smartphone and their 10” Samsung Galaxy Tablet as stated in “Apple
may seek U.S. ban of Samsung Galaxy S III today”, published June 8, 2012 5:04 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News and “Apple
wants to keep Samsung's Galaxy S3 out of U.S.”
published June 6, 2012 1:28 PM PDT by Josh Lowensohn, CNET News.
Good to note at this point that Samsung is also a supplier of
components for the Apple iPhone and Apple iPad. So the case for patent Infringement is plausible, despite
the contractual obligation to merely supply components for their products for
assembly by Chinese electronics manufacturer Foxconn into Apple
products.
For Apple, a lot is at stake for them as stats from February analyst
Nielsen indicate that in the First Quarter of 2012, 50% of Americans who own a
mobile phone have swung towards smartphones as stated in the article “Smartphones
now account for half of all mobile phones”, published March 29, 2012 2:23
PM PDT by Scott Webster, CNET News.
Stats from ComScore reveal the depth of Apple's
pickle, with Android phones accounting for 50% of the now super-saturated
smartphone market as stated in the articles “Android
now represents half of U.S. smartphone market”,
published April 3, 2012 11:19 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News and “Android
still dominates U.S. smartphone market”,
published by June 1, 2012 2:06 PM PDT by Steven Musil, CNET News.
25% of smartphone users own a Tablet, most likely the Apple
iPad as pointed out by the statistics of ComScore in the article “U.S.
tablet usage hits 'critical mass,' ComScore reports” published June 10, 2012 11:37 AM PDT by Steven Musil, CNET
News. Apple is still the king of Tablets, a market this case hoped to guard
against as argued in my Geezam blog article
entitled “Three’s a Charm as Apple iPad 3 Looms Large”.
The Jury came to its decision rather quickly (bet you they’re all Apple
fans!). Their 20-page summary judgment breaks down in a very skewed manner for Apple,
offering compensation for infringement on its smartphones but no protection for
later models of their smartphones and its main showpiece product, the Apple
iPad:
Software Design
1.
Patent ‘381 (the “bounce
back” action) - The jury ruled in Apple’s favor and found that all of Samsung’s accused products
infringed on this patent. All Samsung devices were found for inducement
(Samsung made its U.S. counterparts infringe on the patent). Samsung was also
found guilty of willful infringing on this patent.
2.
Patent ‘163 (the “double tap
to zoom” action) - The jury ruled in Apple’s favor and found that with the exception of eight mobile
devices, Samsung infringed on this patent. Samsung was also found guilty of
willful infringing on this patent.
3.
Patent ‘915 (the “pinch to
zoom” and other zoom and scroll function actions): The jury ruled largely in Apple’s
favor, saying the only Samsung devices exemptions are the Intercept, Replenish,
and the Ace. Concerning this patent, all Samsung devices except the Replenish
were found for inducement. Samsung was also found guilty of willful infringing
on this patent.
Physical Design
1.
Patent ‘087 (back of the
iPhone) - All Samsung devices with the exception of the Galaxy S,4G and
Vibrant.
2.
Patent ‘677 (front of the
iPhone)- all Samsung devices were found to infringe on this patent except
the Ace. Samsung was also found guilty of willful infringement on this
patent.
3.
Patent ‘305 (iOS app icon
design) - All Samsung devices were found to infringe on this patent – this has
been a much-talked-about point, and the jury came down hard on it, saying,
basically, that Samsung should have known better. Samsung was also found guilty
of willful infringement on this patent.
4.
Patent ‘889 (iPad design –
specifically, “clean front, edge-to-edge glass, thin bezel, thin outer border,
and rounded corners”): Samsung and its Galaxy Tab devices were determined
to not have infringed on Apple’s patent. Strangely, Apple is being given a monetary reward, a judgement by the Jury that is
still being reviewed by the Supreme Courts
Trade dress (overall Aesthetic Feel)
Trade dress is basically the physical styling of the product, an
aesthetic that is difficult to copyright unless it's unique in some way.
Samsung argued that patent D’893 was not protectable, but the jury ruled
against this decision.
Apple won trade dress infringement for the iPhone 3G only, with the
other models of the Apple iPhone and the Apple iPad not being protectable.
1.
Samsung Fascinate
2.
Galaxy S i9000
3.
Galaxy S 4G
4.
Showcase
5.
Mesmerize
6.
Vibrant
The jury found, however, that the following phones were not found
to dilute or infringe upon the trade dress of the Apple
iPhone 3G:
1.
The Captivate
2.
Continuum
3.
Droid Charge
4.
Epic 4G
5.
Prevail, S2 (AT&T)
6.
S2 i9100
7.
S2 (T-Mobile)
8.
Epic 4G Touch
9.
Skyrocket
10. Infuse 4G
Interestingly enough too, albeit a hefty sum, is a mere drop in
the bucket for Samsung, whose Gross Earnings for 2011AD was US$145
billion, or 0.72% of their Gross 2011AD profit. Certainly won’t shake Samsung,
which also has business interests in other areas other than making phone and
Tablets.
More interesting stats for Samsung:
1.
The South Korean tech giant
Samsung earned a whopping £2.75bn in the First Quarter of 2012AD
2.
Samsung sold 44.5 million smartphones,
22% more than the First Quarter of 2011AD.
3.
Samsung has taken the No. 1
spot for phone sales overall from Nokia, a position it has held since 1998
Samsung’s sales figures beat Apple,
who sold only 35 million iPhones
Their full spread of business, which includes a significant amount
of spending on R&D (Research and Development) includes all ranges of
consumer electronics, from Car Stereos to Blenders. They also make hard-drives,
both the older Mechanical types and the newer SSD (Solid State Drives)
hard-drives for PC’s, Laptops, smartphones and Tablets.
This interest in SSD's is based on the US$1.375 billion deal
brokered by Seagate Technology PLC and Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday April
19th 2011AD as reported
in my Geezam blog article
entitled “Seagate
– Samsung Swap Hard-Drive Assets – Profitable Cloudy Horizon”. SSD’s are the new
business area that they are positioning themselves, especially with the
expansion of Cloud Computing and Cloud Storage.
Samsung also has it fingers in Natural Gas and Oil via its
business arm Samsung C&T Corporation. This comes to light via the deal
inked with the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) to build the floating Regasification
Terminal and Pipeline infrastructure for the new LNG Plant in Old Harbour, St.
Catherine as noted in my
blog article entitled “Samsung
C&T Corp of Korea secured for LNG Regasification Plant and Pipelines -
Jamaican Contractors to benefit from National Project to Secure Jamaica's
Energy Future”.
So albeit a significant victory for Apple,
it’s a mere drop in the bucket for Tech Giant Samsung, who also lost their
countersuit case against Apple. Both Apple and Samsung are most likely to appeal the ruling; Apple is
seeking to up the claim for damages to US$2.5 billion and to have it
include the Apple iPad. Samsung is set to appeal the whole ruling altogether, as
this translates into royalties being paid over to Apple and
slight increases in the cost of their smartphones and Tablets to consumers.
Worse, Apple may use this ruling to pursue further legal action against
smartphone and Tablet makers whose products are being sold in markets where Apple's
products compete and where it feels those competitor’s products infringed on
its design.
So a pyrrhic victory that was a Premium Rush (2012) by the Apple-philic jury as its legal battle only winds up protecting the Apple
iPhone 3G and leaves its newer Apple iPhone models and the Apple iPad unprotected and vulnerable to the vagaries of the Free
Market.
And albeit Apple is well within its rights to defend its patents after years of
having Microsoft and other copy and steal their designs with very little
significant legal action, this outcome will go a long way to stifle innovation
and foster the idea among tech companies that they can profit from having a
treasure trove of patents.
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