It sure has been a roller coaster of a ride in the legal world of Apple and Samsung; we’ve seen the $1 billion damages being awarded, Samsung appealing, Samsung making some crazy demands wanting to see iOS 6 source code, and now we see the final curtain being drawn on the whole legal story.
US District Judge Lucy Koh, who was the residing judge throughout the whole legal battle, posted orders yesterday that covered all the post-trial issues raised by both Apple and Samsung. The summary of the orders is that Apple isn’t getting any more than the $1.05 billion it was originally awarded, and there is no escape clause for Samsung, leaving the who trial now ready for it’s appeal phase.
Arstechnica summaries:
At a December hearing, Apple’s lawyers made clear that if it didn’t get some of what it wanted—injunctions and bigger damages—the patent war between the two leading smartphone companies had no end in sight. While Apple had a big win at trial, this series of post-trial orders shows what Koh is willing to give Apple to sweeten the pot: which is to say, absolutely nothing, regardless of how loudly it asks.
But in these final orders, Koh has ruled that Samsung did not wilfully infringe on Apple’s patents, so the damages Apple were seeking to be tripled will not happen. So Koh sided with Samsung on that one, but Koh sided with Apple ruling against Samsung’s argument that Apple’s patents were invalid.
Despite Koh predictably standing by her initial rulings, it offered some clarity around some of the unanswered questions raised through trial from the quick decision concluded by the jury. Both sides are already gearing up for the appeal procedure, and if upheld, Apple’s damages award will be the biggest the industry has seen relating to patent infringement, sending a stern message against copyright and intellectual property.