Earlier this month Apple managed to prevail in a case against Samsung over some patent violations in smartphones. However, the jury took much of the wind out of Apple's sails when it awarded the company only $119 million in damages, much less than the more than $2 billion Apple was seeking. Apple seems to think the relatively insignificant amount of damages awarded in court is sufficient to justify a sales ban on Samsung products based on a recent court filing.
Apple's latest request in Judge Lucy Koh's courtroom come based on a study performed by one of their expert witnesses, Dr. Hauser, that supposedly measures the value of the features covered by the patents at issue. The problem for Apple is that Judge Koh has already ruled one time that Dr. Hauser's studies fall short of proving irreparable harm if a sales ban is not instituted. That determination came after Apple's first victory over Samsung a couple years ago when Apple was much more successful in obtaining a $1 billion judgment.
In this latest case, Apple had Dr. Hauser conduct a new study to try to establish a more direct connection between the value of the features and the patents at issue. As we know from the small award by the jury, the argument was largely unsuccessful during the damages phase.
Besides Apple's motion seeking a sales injunction, the court received filing from both parties seeking judgments as a matter of law. All of the documents are sealed, though some heavily redacted versions have been made available. It seems likely that Samsung is asking Judge Koh to overrule the jury's findings of liability. The bits of Apple's filing that are available suggest the company wants the court to restore the original damages claim or grant a retrial, which indicates Apple is not nearly as happy with the “win” as their initial statements suggested.
source: FOSS Patents
Apple never cared about the cash settlement. It’s been the injunction they were after. Because Samsung is Apple’s biggest threat to their market, and this has never been about money – it’s about the suppression of market competition.
And the winner is… “The Lawyers!”
Rotten Apples only interested in hurting Samsung, to force Samsung to recover the money losses by increasing the price of it’s devices… in that way Apple devices will look appealing in price comparison.
Meaning that the consumer will be the only loosers in this equation.
And the future is:
Less innovation, more low quality equipment and inflated prices for the consumer.