Apple Inc. V. Samsung Electronics Co. Case Analysis

What was this case for?

For the most recent case, Apple documented suit against Samsung on February 8, 2012, blaming it for encroaching a few licenses. Samsung at that point documented counterclaims against Apple. In Apple's unique suit, the organization said Samsung "has methodicallly duplicated Apple's creative innovation and items, highlights, and outlines, and has deluged markets with encroaching gadgets with an end goal to usurp piece of the pie from Apple. " Judge Lucy Koh requested for the preliminary to begin March 31. The entire spat began when Apple documented suit against Samsung in April 2011, blaming its opponent for duplicating the look and feel of its iPhones and iPads. Samsung countersued, and the case went to preliminary in August 2012. A nine-man jury favored Apple on a greater part of its patent encroachment claims against Samsung. It a warded Apple $1. 05 billion in harms, substantially less than the $2. 75 billion looked for by the Cupertino, Calif. , organization. Samsung, which requested $421 million in its countersuit, didn't get anything. Be that as it may, US District Court Judge Lucy Koh in March 2013 arranged another preliminary to recalculate a portion of the harms for the situation, striking $450. 5 million off the first judgment against Samsung. A jury in November granted Apple an extra $290. 5 million in harms, bringing the aggregate harms to $930 million.

For what the organizations contend?

Mac contended, as it had previously, that it went up against a great deal of work and hazard to build up the primary iPhone and iPad. Samsung, then, contended that Apple was attempting to hurt rivalry by focusing on it for suit. It additionally asserts that Apple encroached a portion of its licenses. "Without the capacity to uphold its licensed innovation rights Samsung would not have the capacity to maintain the broad promise to innovative work that has empowered it to lead the path into various changes over a wide scope of advances, " the organization said in a court record in April 2012. What licenses were replicated? There were seven licenses at issue in the most recent case - five held by Apple and two by Samsung. Apple blamed Samsung for encroaching US licenses Nos. 5, 946, 647; 6, 847, 959; 7, 761, 414; 8, 046, 721; and 8, 074, 172. All identify with programming highlights, for example, speedy connections for '647, general look for '959, foundation adjusting for '414, slide-to-open for '721, and programmed word remedy for '172. Generally, Apple contended that the licenses empower convenience and make a UI additionally captivating. Samsung, then, had blamed Apple for encroaching US licenses Nos. 6, 226, 449 and 5, 579, 239. The '449 patent, which Samsung acquired from Hitachi, includes camera and organizer association usefulness. The '239 patent, which Samsung additionally obtained, covers video transmission usefulness, and the Korean organization blamed Apple's FaceTime for encroaching the innovation.

What licenses were encroached?

The jury discovered the majority of Samsung's denounced contraptions encroached Apple's '647 "fast connections" patent yet that none encroached the '959 "widespread pursuit" patent or the '414 "foundation synchronize" patent. Results were blended for the '721 "slide to open" patent, with some Samsung gadgets, for example, the Galaxy Nexus, found to encroach, and others found not to. Judge Koh, in a pretrial judgment, had officially decided that Samsung encroached the '172 "programmed word revision" patent, and the jury essentially ascertained harms. What gadget were encroached? The Samsung Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, and Stratosphere encroached Apple's '172 patent. Those gadget - and in addition the Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S3, and Galaxy Tab 2 (10. 1) - likewise encroached Apple's '647 patent. The Samsung Admire, Galaxy Nexus, and Stratosphere were found to encroach Apple's 721 patent. Macintosh's iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod Touch (fifth era, 2012), and iPod Touch (fourth era, 2011) were found to encroach Samsung's '449 patent. To perceive what licenses each Samsung gadget is blamed for encroaching (meant by a X), and what licenses the jury at last chose Samsung violated (signified by an asterisked X*), allude to the outline beneath.

To what extent this took?

The case commenced March 31 with jury choice and wrapped up May 5. Court was in session Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays during the time of April, with the organizations allowed an aggregate of 52 long periods of declaration, three long periods of opening contentions, and four long periods of closings. The jury began its thoughts late in the day April 29. It achieved a decision by the day's end May 2, however Judge Koh reviewed the jury May 5 to recalculate one of the harms figures.

Add up to cash included?

The jury requested Samsung to pay $119. 6 million for encroaching three of Apple's five licenses, substantially less than the $2. 2 billion the iPhone producer had requested. In the meantime, Apple was requested to pay Samsung $158, 400 for encroaching one of the Korean organization's two licenses. Samsung had requested $6. 2 million in harms, and it had contended that in the event that it had encroached the majority of Apple's licenses, it just owed $38. 4 million. While the organizations requested harms, the case was about more than cash. What's truly in question is the market for cell phones. Macintosh currently gets 66% of its deals from the iPhone and iPad; South Korea-based Samsung is the world's biggest creator of cell phones; and both need to continue overwhelming the market.

Response of organizations to this?

Apple said Friday, following the decision: "The present decision fortifies what courts the world over have effectively discovered: that Samsung unshakably stole our thoughts and duplicated our items. We are battling to shield the diligent work that goes into dearest items like the iPhone, which our representatives give their lives to outlining and conveying for our clients. " Samsung said Monday, following the jury recalculation: "We concur with the jury's choice to dismiss Apple's horribly misrepresented harms guarantee. Despite the fact that we are disillusioned by the finding of encroachment, we are vindicated that for the second time in the US, Apple has been found to encroach Samsung's licenses. It is our long history of development and duty to buyer decision, that has driven us to end up the pioneer in the versatile business today".

Some portion of Google in this?

Samsung contended amid the preliminary that most highlights Apple said encroached were a piece of Android, Google's portable working framework that powers Samsung's gadgets. All licenses with the exception of one, called "slide to open, " are incorporated with Android, the Korean organization stated, and it blamed Apple for assaulting Android. Apple contended that the patent encroachment preliminary had nothing to do with Android. It turned out amid the preliminary, in any case, that Google was helping Samsung with its protection for two licenses, '414 for foundation matching up and '959 for all inclusive pursuit. Those licenses used by Apple specifically target highlights of Android that Google created, including the Google seek box and Gmail. Alternate licenses target includes that can be changed by handset creators or by the Android open source network. The jury confirmed that Samsung had not encroached the '414 and '959 licenses but rather that it infringed Apple's three different licenses. The jury said Google didn't factor into its choice for encroachment or harms, however it trusted Apple and Google expected to fight specifically rather than include handset creators, for example, Samsung. "I figure in the event that you truly feel that Google is something that is the reason behind this, as I think everyone watched, at that point don't skirt the real issue, " said jury foreman Tom Dunham, a resigned IBM programming official. "The truth of the matter is Apple has intellectual property they put stock in. So does Samsung. So googles. Give the courts a chance to choose, however a more straightforward methodology may be something to consider".

Apple didn't sue Google?

Suing Google wouldn't get Apple far since Google doesn't make its own telephones or tablets and gives away its working framework for nothing. Rather, Apple has sued organizations that offer physical gadgets utilizing Android, an opponent to Apple's iOS versatile working framework. Specifically, Apple trusts Samsung has pursued a system to duplicate its items and after that undercut Apple's evaluating. For Apple, it's less demanding to point fingers at the handset producers who create income and benefit off of Android telephones, as opposed to Google, which just in a roundabout way produces income through portable publicizing and administrations. It's likewise simpler to show an iPhone by a Galaxy gadget and demonstrate the likenesses and depict how the iPhone originated before other adversary cell phones. Work had begun on Android before the iPhone propelled, making it harder to influence a jury that Google was a copycat. By and large, the claims are a piece of a more extensive exertion by Apple to stop the force of Android, which has since a long time ago outperformed iOS as the predominant portable working framework. Apple isn't simply searching for harms; it needs the telephones banished from deal. Lawful specialists say Apple could bargain more harm and conceivably receive a higher benefit pursuing numerous handset producers than by simply striking at Google. "It is considerably more viable to sue the gadget producers as their incremental edge per gadget is low with respect to the advantage that Google gets from approaching your eyeballs, " said Chris Marlett, CEO of MDB Capital Group, a venture bank that keep up a protected innovation database. "At last if the gadget organizations can't make a decent edge on the telephones, they will leave the telephone business. This winds up being a significantly more viable course to harming Android".

Observers of each side

The preliminary contained declaration by various specialized and harms specialists, and in addition individuals who created the innovation at issue for the situation. The primary day of contentions highlighted declaration by Phil Schiller, Apple's head of advertising. Different observers who have affirmed for Apple incorporate Greg Christie, an Apple design who imagined the slide-to-open iPhone include; Thomas Deniau, a France-based Apple build who built up the organization's speedy connection innovation; and Justin Denison, boss procedure officer of Samsung Telecommunications America. Denison's declaration came by means of a statement video. The core of Apple's case accompanied two master observers, John Hauser, the Kirin teacher of showcasing at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and Christopher Vellturo, a business analyst and foremost at consultancy Quantitative Economic Solutions. Hauser led a conjoint report that decided Apple's protected highlights made Samsung's gadgets additionally engaging, while Vellturo decided the measure of harms Apple ought to be expected for Samsung's encroachment: $2. 191 billion.

Samsung, which propelled its guard April 11 after Apple trusted the jury to decide wisely, called a few Google architects to the remain to affirm about the beginning of Android and innovation they made before Apple got its licenses. Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google VP of building for Android, said his organization never duplicated iPhone highlights for Android. Other Google Android engineers, Bjorn Bringert and Dianne Hackborn, likewise affirmed about highlights of the working framework. High-positioning Samsung officials, including previous Samsung Telecommunications America CEO Dale Sohn and STA Chief Marketing Officer Todd Pendleton, additionally stood firm amid the monthlong preliminary. The two officials affirmed about Samsung's advertising push for the Galaxy S2 and different gadgets, saying a move in the Korean organization's deals and promoting endeavors - not duplicating Apple - helped its situation in the cell phone showcase.

The last 50% of the preliminary to a great extent included specialists enlisted by Samsung to question the legitimacy of Apple's licenses and to contend that Samsung didn't encroach. David Reibstein, led educator of advertising at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, discredited Apple master Hauser's declaration from prior in the preliminary. Judith Chevalier, a teacher of financial matters and fund at the Yale University School of Management who was enlisted by Samsung, said her investigation confirmed that a sensible sovereignty for Samsung's accepted encroachment would be $1. 75 per gadget, or $38. 4 million by and large. Apple had contended it merited $40 per gadget for encroachment and in addition lost benefits for an aggregate of $2. 191 billion. Subsequent to showing its resistance, Samsung on April 21 propelled its very own encroachment suit against Apple. Dan Schonfeld, a teacher of software engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, affirmed that Apple encroached the '239 patent in its iPhone using FaceTime and an element for connecting video to messages and mail. Furthermore, Ken Parulski, another master who was a piece of the Kodak group that built up the world's first shading advanced camera, affirmed that Apple encroached another Samsung patent for arranging video and photographs in organizers.

James Storer, a teacher of software engineering at Brandeis University employed by Apple as a specialist witness, at that point affirmed April 22 that Apple didn't encroach Samsung's licenses. The organization at that point called observers, for example, Apple engineers Tim Millet and Roberto Garcia to affirm about the making of innovation utilized in iPhones and iPads. Millet fills in as senior chief of stage design at Apple, making the processors that power iOS gadgets. Garcia, in the mean time discussed the production of the FaceTime innovation that had been blamed for encroaching a Samsung patent.

Conclusion: Who won?

That is precarious. The two organizations were discovered liable of encroaching a portion of one another's licenses and requested to pay harms. Eventually, it was certifiably not an obvious win for either organization, however the decision additionally wasn't the mind-boggling rout Samsung looked in 2012. By granting Apple under 10 percent of the harms it needed, the jury of generally tech tenderfoots, which pondered for three entire days following a four-week preliminary, sent a very different message than the earlier preliminary that got Apple almost $1 billion. Samsung definitely feels calmed by the result, however despite everything it was regarded a copycat in a few regards. Furthermore, Apple, which was vindicated in a portion of its allegations, presumably trusts Samsung's discipline is too light.