o what approaches were taken by the parties involved;
The seven years long litigation process between Apple and Samsung had begun when
Apple launched its new iPhone product in 2007. Samsung was then struggling in the
smartphone industry and knew they had to respond to the fame that Apple iPhone was
experiencing in the market. In the first quarter of 2010, Samsung released its Samsung
Galaxy S mobile phone, Apple CEO Steve Jobs had discovered that there were
similarities in Apple’s iPhone to the newly launched Samsung phone, although enraged
by the discovery Apple pursued to negotiate a license agreement between its competitor,
Samsung. Subsequently, in the following year Samsung introduced to the market its tablet
computer which has a close resemblance to the Apple’s iPad2. Apple had filed a federal
lawsuit against Samsung in a U.S. District Court in Northern California for an infringement
violation of their iPhone and iPad respectively with five patent infringement into its
devices’ interfaces. The legal battle between the tech giants has been known to be
associated with the largest jury award for patent infringement in the history of
smartphones.1 The patent feud resulted in a $1 billion settlement for damages in favour
of Apple in 2012. Another motion has been filed by Apple for a permanent injunction
prohibiting Samsung to make, sell, develop, advertise, or import in the United States of
any software and codes that may infringe the Apple products, however, this motion had
been denied.2 Samsung contended on the infringement allegation and questioned the
validity of the claim. In response, Samsung had filed a lawsuit against Apple for
1
Zohni, W. (2018). Patent War Today: Apple vs. Samsung. In Examining the Role of Patent Quality in Large-Scale
"Patent War" Litigation: A Historical Comparison and Proposal for a Restorative U.S. Patent System (pp. 3042). Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. Retrieved July 11, 2020, from
www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv941rps.9
2
Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., No 14-1802. Fed. Cir. (December 16, 2015)
infringement accusation of different eight patents.3 The battle between both parties have
been a lengthy and costly one, the whole patent war was technical considering the
industry where Apple and Samsung were classified. After the continuous back and forth
lawsuits thrown to each other by the two companies and several appeals, in 2018, the
hard dispute between Apple and Samsung had wrapped up as the jury ordered Samsung
to pay Apple $539 million for patent infringement in its final stages of trial in May.
However, the final resolution between the two company’s settlement amount remains
undisclosed. After this patent battle that lasted for almost a decade, and was considered
“the bloodiest corporate wars in history” (Zohni, 2018) no one had really won as both
companies suffered in significant financial and emotional losses in the great patent war.
3
Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Appeal No 15-1171, 15-1195, 15-1994. Fed. Cir. (February 26,2016)
o what could have been handled differently [proposal] and why [justification]?
The question in this case, do tech companies should qualify to file for patent protections
for the innovation of the technology in general? As new devices coming out into the
market with new smartphones, computers, tablets, laptops popping out here and there do
this case only be the start of many litigations ahead among the tech industry in the
evolving world of technology? As Robin Feldman, an author and legal scholar from UC
Hastings College of Law has commented on the ruling in 2012 Apple vs. Samsung case,
“Regardless of the outcome of the trial, we might want to step back and consider whether
society should be granting such powerful rights so easily. Are the features at issue here
really deserving of so much protection? On the whole, the trial is one more indication of
a patent system that has lost its bearings, with litigation rather than innovation leading the
way” (as cited in Zohni, 2018). As the trial ended, more than its patent claim Apple
obviously wanted to protect its “Total User Experience” (TUX) that the consumer gets in
purchasing their iPhones. This has brought awareness to other tech developers to avoid
future patent and infringement litigations to focus on developing their original designs to
improve their unique user experience with their products as well as making sure that these
modern gadgets will serve its primary function, and that is to connect the people. After all,
the consumers regardless of what kind of operating system their smartphones have,
whether iOS or Android, will not be bothered as long as these devices serve its purpose
and they get the optimum service for the amount they paid for.
References:
Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., No 14-1802. Fed. Cir. (December 16, 2015)
Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., No 15-1171, 15-1195, 15-1994. Fed. Cir.
(February 26, 2016)
Mauro, C., CHFP. (n.d.). Apple v. Samsung: Impact and Implications for Product Design,
User Interface Design (UX), Software Development and the Future of HighTechnology
Consumer
Products.
Retrieved
July
11,
2020,
from
https://www.mauronewmedia.com/blog/apple-v-samsung-implications-for-productdesign-user-interface-ux-design-software-development-and-the-future-of-hightechnology-consumer-products/
Zohni, W. (2018). Patent War Today: Apple vs. Samsung. In Examining the Role of Patent
Quality in Large-Scale "Patent War" Litigation: A Historical Comparison and
Proposal for a Restorative U.S. Patent System (pp. 30-42). Baden-Baden,
Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. Retrieved July 11, 2020, from
www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv941rps.9