Apple wins big: Samsung violated Apple patents, must pay $1.05 billion in damages, court rules

A jury has ruled that Samsung violated a number of Apple patents related to its mobile devices, and must pay $1.05 billion in damages.

In a landmark ruling, Samsung has been found guilty of infringing upon many of Apple’s patents related to its mobile devices. Samsung will be forced to pay Apple a total of $1,051,855,000 in damages. The amount is less than the $2.5 billion Apple requested, but still a major victory for Cupertino.

The jury was required to fill out a 20-page verdict form, which contained 33 multi-part questions concerning the infringement by Samsung through its more than 20 smartphones and tablets. The jury was asked to decide whether or not Samsung infringed on a variety of Apple’s patents, including hardware design and software patents, as well as “trade dress,” which refers to design aspects that are non-essential to the function of a device.

Here’s how the patent violations break down:

Software

While mobile has definitely been at the forefront of this case, Apple has plenty of software patents it accused Samsung of infringing on. Here is a quick look at how the software-related decisions came down.

• Patent ‘381 (the “bounce back” action): The jury ruled in Apple’s favor and found that all of Samsung’s accused products infringed on this patent. Concerning this patent, all Samsung devices were found for inducement (meaning Samsung made its U.S. counterparts infringe on the patent). Samsung was also found guilty of willful infringing on this patent.
• Patent ‘163 (the “double tap to zoom” action): The jury ruled in Apple’s favor and found that with the exception of eight mobile devices, Samsung infringed on this patent. Samsung was also found guilty of willful infringing on this patent.
• Patent ‘915 (the “pinch to zoom” and other zoom and scroll function actions): The jury ruled largely in Apple’s favor, saying the only Samsung devices exemptions are the Intercept, Replenish, and the Ace. Concerning this patent, all Samsung devices except the Replenish were found for inducement. Samsung was also found guilty of willful infringing on this patent.

Hardware

• Patent ’677 (design of the front of the iPhone): Samsung violated this patent with all devices, aside from the Galaxy Ace.
• Patent ’087 (design of the back of the iPhone): Samsung violated this patent with all devices, save the Galaxy S 4G, and Vibrant.
• Patent ’305 (design of Apple app icons): Samsung violated this patent with all of its devices.

Trade dress

Samsung argued that patent D’893 was not protectable, but the jury ruled against this decision. However, Apple was only able to prove that trade dress of the iPhone 3G is protectable. All other iPhone models, and the iPad, do not have protectable trade dress, the jury ruled. The jury found that the Samsung Fascinate, Galaxy S i9000, S 4G, Showcase, Mesmerize, and Vibrant all diluted the iPhone 3G trade dress. The Captivate, Continuum, Droid Charge, Epic 4G, Prevail, S2 (AT&T), S2 i9100, S2 (T-Mobile), Epic 4G Touch, Skyrocket, and Infuse 4G were not found to dilute iPhone 3G trade dress.

Samsung sues Apple… and loses

Samsung also filed suit against Apple, but the jury ruled that Apple had not violated any of Samsung’s patents. Apple was not able to prove that Samsung’s patents were invalid. But Apple will not have to pay Samsung any damages.

Conclusion

Apple did not win everything — but it won big. This case will have consequences for both the consumer electronics market, as well as the patent system itself, for years to come.

“The mere existence of a case like this will further push patents into the realm of a ‘commodity’ that is stockpiled by large tech companies for the purpose of stifling competition,” said Kevin Afghani, a patent attorney, in an email with Digital Trends. “This causes companies to think of patents first, and innovation second, which is opposite of the intended purpose of the patent system.”

Molly McHugh contributed reporting for this story.