The History of Apple vs. Samsung

The debate between Samsung and Apple has been a big one, yet, legally, Apple has won. After seven years, Apple has finally won a court case involving patent infringements by Samsung. Back in April of 2011, Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung due to their belief that Samsung was trying to copy the design of Apple’s iPads and iPhones. Just under two weeks ago, a California jury ruled that Samsung had indeed infringed on three of Apple’s design patents as well as two of its utility patents. The design patents covered how its products looked, while the utility patents protected the way its products functioned. The jury ruled that Samsung owes Apple over $539 million. Over the course of these seven years, there have been several other court rulings. In 2012, a jury trial rewarded Apple $1.049 billion due to Samsung’s infringements. However, after appeals and other complications, Apple was awarded $290 million. In 2016 however, the Supreme Court overruled the decision from the first trial, stating that the design patents could just be referring to the case and screen. A retrial was decided in late 2017, and it was this that recently awarded Apple. Several other lawsuits also took place outside of the United States.

Although Apple was victorious, they are still a bit unhappy with how much money they were awarded. Apple believed that they deserved just over $1 billion. This was an exorbitant amount compared to the $28 million that Samsung believed was fair to give to Apple for infringing their patents. The recent ruling will not have a much of an impact on customers, as both companies will be able to change features as to not infringe any patents. Additionally, no sales ban will likely be put in place. However, this could set the tone and heighten the rivalry between Samsung and Apple, which is always interesting!

Author:

Ritik Sinha