Breaking: Samsung to Pay Apple 1.5b

[dev22]

Jury ruled in favor of Apple in the huge smartphone patent case, and Samsung will have to fork over 1.5 Billion bucks. No link yet, breaking.

[bqbride]

Holy fuckballs, that is considerably more than the banks paid for defrauding millions of homeowners and helping to crash the world economy.

[dev22]

www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/08/24/jury-reaches-verdict-in-apple-vs-samsung-case/

[EllieArroway]

Such BS.

[SusanBAnthony]

Aug 24, 2012 18:28:30 GMT -5 EllieArroway said:

Such BS.

Why?

[basilosaurus]

Complete bs. But I don't remember the details why I just remember learning about the case and being firmly on Samsung's side.

[Deleted]

Wow. I am not sure they can absorb that.

[emisi]

Aug 24, 2012 18:31:11 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Aug 24, 2012 18:28:30 GMT -5 EllieArroway said:

Such BS.

Why?

Because what Apple was suing on was basically a form of patent trollism. Patenting a square form? Really?

However, I'm hoping the judge reduces the amount. She can still override the jury, and of course Samsung can appeal.

[EllieArroway]

Aug 24, 2012 18:31:11 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Aug 24, 2012 18:28:30 GMT -5 EllieArroway said:

Such BS.

Why?

This case basically highlights everything that is wrong with our patent system. Apple had patents for things like "rectangular phone with rounded corners" and "square icon with an image of a phone" and hundreds of other very basic, very vague things that really all smartphones and tablets are doing, and the jury just declared that all of Apple's patents are valid.

There's a lot more to it than that, but it basically comes down to our patent system is fucked.

[mominatrix]

Aug 24, 2012 19:18:25 GMT -5 EllieArroway said:

Aug 24, 2012 18:31:11 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Why?

This case basically highlights everything that is wrong with our patent system. Apple had patents for things like "rectangular phone with rounded corners" and "square icon with an image of a phone" and hundreds of other very basic, very vague things that really all smartphones and tablets are doing, and the jury just declared that all of Apple's patents are valid.

There's a lot more to it than that, but it basically comes down to our patent system is fucked.

...and pretty much every other smartphone is violating an apple patent, so if this is allowed to stand, all the companies that make cell phones are pretty well fucked.

[basilosaurus]

But samsung is the only one that has threatened iphone's dominance. So, of course they're the only ones with a square phone with rounded corners that matters.

[Kristinmo]

Aug 24, 2012 18:38:04 GMT -5 nuggetbrain said:

Aug 24, 2012 18:35:29 GMT -5 elle said:

Wow. I am not sure they can absorb that.

That's what I'm thinking. I have a bad feeling that might kind of be the end of Samsung.

According to Wiki their 2011 net income was $18.3 billion.

[pescalita]

Aug 24, 2012 20:42:37 GMT -5 Kristinmo said:

Aug 24, 2012 18:38:04 GMT -5 nuggetbrain said:

That's what I'm thinking. I have a bad feeling that might kind of be the end of Samsung.

According to Wiki their 2011 net income was $18.3 billion.

Income =/= cash. It's more likely they're in a good cash position (and I'm pretty sure they are, also I don't believe they'll end up paying this full amount), but one thing is not the other.

I wonder what the total $ amt is that each company has spent on the lawsuit and how much it compares to the award amount. There are very few companies that could have afforded to fight this at all.

Yes, this is crap for the patent system.

I heard that in Korean court Apple lost as well, does anyone know about that?

ETA: this is absolutely not about the $ awarded. It's about whether Samsung and every other company on earth has the right to make billions and billions going forward, or just Apple.

[pescalita]

Jesus, pesca, read the article.

As part of its lawsuit, Apple also demanded that Samsung pull its most popular cellphones and computer tablets from the U.S. market. A judge was expected to make that ruling at a later time.

This will be huge.

Also, it says both sides paid limited damages in S Korea and cases are pending in other countries.

I heart Steve Jobs but he really was an ass.

[basilosaurus]

Glad I just got my new Samsung phone.

I'm sure they could afford the settlement. They're more than just electronics. They basically own all of Korea. They have banks and credit cards which was a surprise to me when Costco only accepted Samsung and not my Costco amex. They even have apartment buildings (to be fair, so does Daewoo)

[Deleted]

But it is not just the award (though the award is a lot for any company to stomach). It's the injunction, having to recall any affected phone still on the shelf, rework its designs, and not do it using current styles. Maybe they don't need the smartphone and tablet market to survive. I haven't looked at their financials by segment. But this is a huge hit.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Aug 24, 2012 19:09:28 GMT -5 emisi said:

Aug 24, 2012 18:31:11 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Why?

Because what Apple was suing on was basically a form of patent trollism. Patenting a square form? Really?

However, I'm hoping the judge reduces the amount. She can still override the jury, and of course Samsung can appeal.

I agree 100%. DH and I had this exact conversation over dinner tonight.

I'll be surprised if this doesn't get overturned on appeal. How the eff did the jury decide everything in only 2 days??

[basilosaurus]

Oh, I totally agree with you, elle. It's just that I have a love/hate with Samsung. This case is absolutely ridiculous horseshit, and I will hate on it all day long. Plus I love my galaxies.

But I also hate their corporate fascist power, so I like to rag on it when I can

[Deleted]

Obscenely rich company sues other obscenely rich company over bullshit. Fuck em both lol.

[runforrest]

I'd be interested to read the whole decision. I've read the complaint Apple filed against Samsung and it was very substantial - they asserted a ton of design patents for their devices/icons and also trademark/trade dress registrations.

As a patent lawyer for a cellular company that is trying to gain back market share, this is super concerning for sure. There isn't much you can do design-wise to a touch screen device, and since Apple has registrations claiming just the overall shape of the device (and not the button(s)), it really screws over all the other companies trying to compete.

I hate Apple. I am sure Samsung will appeal.

[ESF]

Meh, I'm sure Samsung has paid millions for patent lawyers over the years, lobbied hard for the watering down of America Invents Act and has engaged in trolling of its own.

I think the system is bullshit, but I shed no tears for them.

[runforrest]

I don't feel bad for Samsung - they knock off shit all the time. I'm more worried about the implications of this for the rest of the industry if this decision stands.

[Deleted]

Samsung is obviously going to appeal the decision to exclude photos of its phone that existed before the iPhone. John Quinn threw such a fit over that evidence being excluded he nearly got held in contempt and he may get some traction on that. But this isn't like the Bratz case where there was a clear, pivotal, jury instruction on which the whole case turned. This verdict is largely a result of the way our patent system, generally, is structured and that is not a great basis for an appeal. So I actually don't think it will be overturned, though I really don't know enough about the case to have a well informed opinion.

[pescalita]

Aug 24, 2012 22:05:33 GMT -5 @reeve said:

Obscenely rich company sues other obscenely rich company over bullshit. Fuck em both lol.

Yeah, I've seen people say this, but the thing is it has an impact on the kinds of products we all have access to. Hate on Apple, Samsung, et al all you want, but they have given us access to devices that have pretty much revolutionized the way a large segment of the population communicates (or at least everyone on GBCN who praised the proboards app

This has the power to change that landscape in a massive way.

I agree with RunForrest that I don't feel bad necessarily for Samsung.

[teflep]

Aug 24, 2012 22:05:33 GMT -5 @reeve said:

Obscenely rich company sues other obscenely rich company over bullshit. Fuck em both lol.

while still treating their employees like cow dung. Oh. Wait, I thought we were talking about Walmart.

[druidp]

Aug 25, 2012 9:30:04 GMT -5 teflep said:

Aug 24, 2012 22:05:33 GMT -5 @reeve said:

Obscenely rich company sues other obscenely rich company over bullshit. Fuck em both lol.

while still treating their employees like cow dung. Oh. Wait, I thought we were talking about Walmart.

:Y:

I've always really dug Samsung products, so I'm bummed on their behalf.

[Deleted]

the "free" market will sort it out, lolz

[ttt]

Aug 24, 2012 18:25:00 GMT -5 @bqbride said:

Holy fuckballs, that is considerably more than the banks paid for defrauding millions of homeowners and helping to crash the world economy.

yeah but that was the homeowners' fault for letting themselves be defrauded! And business > people.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Aug 25, 2012 9:35:29 GMT -5 @bunnybean said:

And while you may think something is not patentable, teams of Apple lawyers and teams of examiners at the patent office did. It's not like they made the decision out of thin air.

I don't have any issue with patenting a shape or design. In fact, I think it's likely prudent in many instances. But seriously, patenting a rectangle with rounded corners is bullshit. I don't care if lawyers thought it was patentable and the USPTO granted it.

Aug 25, 2012 12:23:57 GMT -5 @bunnybean said:

These are design patents. You have to be completely violating those like in an obscene offensive way to be called on patent infringements. Examiners and hundreds of other people will evaluate every single claim, every single piece of prior art, etc. It is not like it was super easy for Samsung to have accidentally committed patent infringement.

And while I would generally agree that it would be difficult to accidentally infringe a patent, I think it would, in this instance, actually be really hard not to. I'm really afraid of what this case will mean for the entire industry.

[runforrest]

Apple is innovative in design, that's for sure, but Motorola and Samsung have copied the BlackBerry keyboard. Since most design patents are not included in license agreements, they can be used for negotiation purposes and/or tacked on as part of a lawsuit. Hell, in this industry, we all sue/countersue each other. It's the way the business works. For both standards and non-standards related patents, my company (RIM) is constantly involved in some sort of lawsuit, whether we are on the defensive or offensive side. It's been this way since I started in the industry, and will likely to continue to be this way.