Apple and Samsung take patent battle to trial

Apple and Samsung’s on-going patent battle is set to come to a head this Monday as jury is sworn in, following a year of pre-trial posturing.

The trial, to be heard in the US, has the potential to cost one of the companies billions of dollars.

Apple is demanding $2.5bn in damages following its allegations that Samsung’s devices are copies of the iPhone and iPad range.

Court papers filed by Apple claim that its “innovations have been the subject of widespread emulation” and go on to name Samsung as one of the “principal imitator”.

Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablet computers have been specifically mentioned by Apple as “slavish” copies of the iPhone and iPad.

Samsung claims that Apple’s lawsuit is a bid to “stifle legitimate competition” and “maintain its [Apple’s] historically exorbitant profits”. Samsung does not quantify its claim for damages.

Previous cases have been heard around the world since 2011 with often contradictory results.

German courts banned the EU sale of the Galaxy Tab on the basis that it infringes apple design patents. However British courts found in favour of Samsung with the judge ruling that the Galaxy Tab was not “cool” enough to be confused with the iPad.

The US trial will act as an acid test for Apple’s worldwide patent litigation strategy, whilst Samsung face a potential US sales ban for the Galaxy range.

Apple appears to have the edge going into the case after it succeeded in having US sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 halted. Samsung has appealed the injunction.

The 10-member jury will sit for at least four weeks and must reach a unanimous decision for either firm to prevail in their claims.

Ryan Fowler