In a shocking and rather quick turnaround, the jury in the Apple vs. Samsung patent trial has voted in Apple’s favor, awarding the Cupertino company $1,049,343,540 or 1.04 Billion. While it’s not the $2.5 billion Apple was looking for, it’s still a massive number and will certainly put a dent in Samsung’s wallet. The jury also didn’t find Apple guilty of violating any of Samsung’s patent.
The jury on the case decided that Samsung violated 5 patents that Apple was suing for, but perhaps the most important of the patents is the one pertaining to Apple’s trade dress or the looks of their products.
Here’s a breakdown of how the jury ruled on each of the patents:
Patent ’381, which describes the bouncy “rubber band” effect that occurs when scrolling on Apple devices, the jury found the following devices were guilty of infringement: The Samsung Captivate, the Continuum, the Droid Charge, the Exhibit 4G, the Galaxy Ace, the Prevail, Galaxy S 4G, the Galaxy S II, the Galaxy Tab, the Gem, the Indulge, the Infuse 4G, the Mesmerize, the Nexus S, the Replenish and the Vibrant.
Patent ’163, which describes both double-tap zooming and centering technology on Apple devices
the jury found the follow devices guilty: The Droid Charge, the Epic 4G, the Exhibit 4G, the Fascinate, the Galaxy Ace, the Galaxy Prevail, the Galaxy X, the Galaxy S 4G, the Galaxy S II, the Galaxy Tab, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Infuse 4G, the Mesmerize, the Fascinate and the Replenish.Patent ’915, which describes technology for pinch-to-zoom capabilities and one-fingered scrolling on Apple devices, the jury found that the following devices were guilty of patent infringement: The Samsung Captivate, the Continuum, the Droid Charge, the Epic 4G, the Exhibit, the Fascinate, Galaxy Prevail, the Galaxy S 4G, the Galaxy S II, the, Galaxy Tab, Tab 10.1, the Gem, the Indulge, the Infuse 4G, the Intercept, the Mesmerize, Nexus S, the Transform, and the Vibrant.
Patent ’677, a design patent that describes trade dress registration on the front of the iPhonethe jury found the following devices guilty: The Samsung Fascinate, the Galaxy S 4G, the Galaxy S II, the Epic 4G Touch, the Skyrocket, the Showcase, the Infuse 4G, the Mesmerize, and the Vibrant.
Patent ’087, a design patent that describes trade dress registration of the back of the iPhone the jury found the following devices guilty: The Samsung i9000 Galaxy S, the Galaxy S 4G and the Vibrant.
Patent ’305, a design patent that describes trade dress registration for the iPhone’s home screen and icons, the jury found the following devices guilty: The Samsung Captivate, the Continuum, the Droid Charge, the Epic 4G, the Fascinate, the Galaxy S 4G, the Gem, the Indulge, the Infuse 4G, the Mesmerize and the Vibrant.
Needless to say, Samsung, and at this point every competitor, is going to have a hard time competing against Apple, as a precedent has now been set. Companies are now going to have to become more creative and go back to the drawing board and create designs that are more unique and diverse. It should be interesting to see how future versions of Android are shaped due to this news and how Samsung plans to change TouchWiz for future devices.
Patent Notes via: BGR