Apple has won their much-publicised federal court battle with Samsung – with a US jury forcing the Korean company to pay the American tech giants $1.051 billion in damages.
Pedestrian reports that after three days of deliberating, the jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the Apple’s market-leading iPhone and iPad devices for their popular ‘Galaxy’ range of tablets and smartphones.
Apple sued Samsung for copying the designs of its iPhone and iPad tablets in April last year. This led to Samsung counter-suing Apple, saying they had infringed on their wireless communication and camera phone patents.
In the end, Apple have had the saga go in their favour – and naturally, they’ve released a statement expressing their delight at the outcome:
“The lawsuits between Apple and Samsung were about much more than patents or money. They were about values. At Apple, we value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. We make these products to delight our customers, not for our competitors to flagrantly copy.”
A smarting Samsung responded: “It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners.”
The ruling now means that Samsung could be banned from selling their products in America, with The Australian reporting that Apple’s lawyers are planning to launch an injunction immediately, followed by a hearing in late September.
