We all sat on the edge of our chairs as we waited anxiously on the live feed of the jury’s verdict, and with each new post I ‘reeled’ in anger as Samsung was found GUILTY! Yes, we are all upset and angry that such an outcome was given out. Samsung was found guilty on quite a few things, of course not everything, but enough that they have to pay Apple a billion dollars in damages. I still find this situation absolutely horrible, and it’s all (at least in my mind) because Apple isn’t making enough money on their sales. It’s not like they are like HTC and not selling barely anything, they still have good sales statistics, but just because they aren’t where they want to be they attack Android and consumers. Okay, rant done, let’s move on. Let’s get a briefing on the overall of what Samsung was found guilty of, and then dive into the process of appeals (which has been started already).
Samsung was found guilty on two iPhone designs and they are big ones at that. “The D’677 patent, which covers the front fascia of the iPhone, (pictured below). Apple also successfully asserted that Samsung infringed the design and layout of the iPhone’s homescreen, another design patent.”
And pretty much every Samsung phone was found to infringe all three of Apple’s asserted software patents. The devices found to be within the infringing criteria are:
- Samsung Captivate
- Samsung Continuum
- Samsung Droid Charge
- Samsung Epic 4G
- Samsung Exhibit 4G
- Samsung Fascinate
- Samsung Galaxy Ace
- Samsung Galaxy Indulge
- Samsung Galaxy Prevail
- Samsung Galaxy S
- Samsung Galaxy S Showcase
- Samsung Galaxy S 4G
- Samsung Galaxy S II
- Samsung Galaxy S Skyrocket
- Samsung Galaxy Tab
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
- Samsung Gem
- Samsung Infuse 4G
- Samsung Mesmerize
- Samsung Nexus S 4G
- Samsung Replenish
- Samsung Transform
- Samsung Vibrant
That is mighty big list of devices, which are only available through certain carriers, which has to make a person wonder, if there’s a ban put on these devices how it will affect their sales and income. I wonder how they feel about this verdict.
Samsung was also “found to have diluted the trade dress of the iPhone (in general) as well as specifically for the iPhone 3G.” Well what does trade dress mean? Trade dress means, “Basically how a product is “branded” through its design elements as a whole – so that consumers know who makes particular product.” This is Apple’s way of saying “our famous brand was damaged because you sold lookalikes to consumers.” Ha, Ha, Ha yeah I’m so sure it hurt your consumers, I have to believe Apple was more worried about how this hurt their pocketbook, seeing as the iPhone sales TO APPLE, were not where they were supposed to be. I mean really? I didn’t buy my Samsung device because it looked like an iPhone, I bought it because it WASN’T like an iPhone!
Now let’ get into a bit more detail on the appeal process. Now, EVERYONE who has been following this story and case needs to know that just because Samsung is filing an appeal doesn’t mean the appeal is going to disregard the verdict in this case. “An appeals court cannot overturn findings of fact unless “no reasonable jury” could have arrived at those conclusions.” So what does that mean? What it means is that even though the appeals court can’t disregard the verdict, Samsung can try use the law, and how it was used to validate such patents, as what the jury in this case has done. Samsung can also use the law to argue that some of the damages are ‘unjust.’ They can also appeal the evidence that Judge Kohl threw out was a “matter of abuse of judicial discretion,” which I’ve read is a very high “bar” to prove in an appeals courtroom.
This is where the “aftermath” of this verdict is currently sitting. In my eyes, it’s going to put a lot of consumers in very bad spots if it continues to favor Apple. However, some sites have been putting out information saying this has gone in Samsung’s favor, as many people are noticing Apple is claiming “Samsung is just like them,” but are now thinking of switching due to the price differences. Which I can understand the logic in this. Consumers are about great quality for cheaper prices, and we all know Apple isn’t anywhere near cheap. So, this could very well end up smacking Apple right in the face. Let us continue to watch more news on this matter as we all will wait anxiously to find out what happens in the appeal process.
Sources: CNet / Android Police