Jury foreperson Colleen Allen, left, speaks to reporters outside of the federal building in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013. A Silicon Valley jury on Thursday ordered Samsung Electronics to pay Apple $290 million for copying vital iPhone and iPad features. The verdict covers 13 older Samsung devices that a previous jury found were among 26 Samsung products that infringed Apple patents. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) ( Jeff Chiu )
SAN JOSE -- With a fresh $290 million jury verdict in hand, Apple (AAPL) got exactly what it wanted from a federal jury Thursday in its continuing patent feud with archrival Samsung -- another stern message that copying iPhone and iPad technology comes with a steep price.
On the third day of deliberations, an eight-member jury awarded Apple $290 million in damages in the latest round of its legal battle with Samsung, close to the amount the Silicon Valley tech giant sought for Samsung's copying of the iPhone and iPad in 13 Samsung smartphones and tablets.
Jurors said after the verdict that they were aware the outcome would send a broader message about patent infringement, particularly in the valley's tech center.
"We felt that was the message of this trial," said juror Barry Goldman-Hall, a San Jose therapist. "If you invent something, that's a valuable commodity. In this particular business, that's serious."
With the verdict, Apple is owed a total of nearly $930 million for its overall patent infringement case against Samsung, including the results of last year's trial in which a separate jury found the South Korean maker of Galaxy smartphones and tablets and other devices violated Apple's patent rights in dozens of products.
In the most recent trial, the jury largely sided with Apple's demands to be compensated for 13 Samsung smartphones and tablets already found to have copied iPhone and iPad patents, such as Apple's bounce back and pinch-to-zoom features. The jury broke down damages for each of the smartphones, finding the Samsung Infuse 4G, at nearly $100 million, and the Droid Charge, at $60 million, warranted the most damages.
The Samsung products are an older line of smartphones and tablets long since
Juror Barry Goldman-Hall speaks to reporters outside of the federal building in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013. A Silicon Valley jury on Thursday ordered Samsung Electronics to pay Apple $290 million for copying vital iPhone and iPad features. The verdict covers 13 older Samsung devices that a previous jury found were among 26 Samsung products that infringed Apple patents. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) ( Jeff Chiu )
replaced by newer models, but the damages case was considered important to the two rivals' patent feud unfolding in courts around the world. The damages verdict also finally positions the case to move forward to a federal appeals court, which may decide a host of key legal issues in the evolving patent battles over smartphone and tablet technology.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ordered a retrial of the damages issue on the 13 Samsung products after she concluded the first jury improperly calculated damages and slashed more than $400 million from its original $1 billion verdict. The latest jury verdict restores much of that amount.
During the trial, Apple argued that Samsung owed nearly $380 million in damages for infringing its iPhone and iPad technology, based on Apple's lost profits, Samsung's profits from selling infringing products and royalties. Samsung, meanwhile, told the jury that Apple had inflated the worth of its patents and overstated their importance to consumer choice, arguing damages should not exceed $52 million.
Jurors said Samsung failed to produce much evidence to counter Apple's position. Colleen Allen, the jury forewoman, said the panel agreed their verdict would "set precedent in the future for our patent laws."
"If we don't award Apple much, we're saying it's OK to infringe out patent laws," added Allen, an emergency room nurse from Aromas.
Apple praised the verdict, saying it shows "Samsung that copying has a cost." Samsung vowed to appeal, calling the verdict "disappointing."
Barring a global settlement, which has eluded the two companies, Apple and Samsung are far from done with each other. The competitors are set to square off again in March in another patent trial, this time over more recent smartphones and tablets, although even that case will be well behind the release of even newer versions of Apple and Samsung products.
In addition, a federal appeals court this week revived Apple's bid to block the U.S. sales of Samsung infringing products in the case that has been resolved. The issue was sent back to Koh for further review.
"There is no end in sight," said Brian Love, a Santa Clara University law professor.
Meanwhile, Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the worldwide market for smartphones and tablets, fueling Apple's parallel rivalry with Google (GOOG) and its Android operating system, which runs Samsung's products.
Howard Mintz covers legal affairs. Contact him at 408-286-0236 or follow him at Twitter.com/hmintz
THE JURY's verdict
The breakdown by products from Thursday's jury verdict in the San Jose federal trial that restored $290 million in damages awarded in Apple's lawsuit against Samsung for Samsung's violation of patents in these older devices:
Captivate $21.1 million
Continuum $6.4 million
Droid Charge $60.7 million
Epic 4G $37.9 million
Exhibit 4G $2.4 million
Galaxy Prevail $22.1 million
Galaxy Tab $9.5 million
Gem $4.8 million
Indulge $9.9 million
Infuse 4G $99.9 million
Nexus S 4G $10.5 million
Replenish $3 million
Transform $2.1 million
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