Apple and Samsung are again face to face in court for another trial which involves the same set of five patents. Apple was given $1.05bn in 2012 after the jury decided that Samsung had infringed many of the iPhone’s innovations. Talking about the newly started trial, the core issue between the two companies is that the damages should be based on the total value of the device. Whereas, Samsung maintains that they should pay a fine based just on the elements of the phone that it copied.
Currently, Samsung has to pay only $400 million in damages for the design patent infringement. The trial which kicked off yesterday had a hard time selecting a panel of unbiased jurors. It took them a whole day to pick 8 from a panel of 74 candidates. When the selection was made, US District Judge Lucy Koh warned them that they couldn’t discuss their own devices during the breaks.
It must be noted here that Jurors will have to stick to the previous judgment that Samsung copied three design patents which concern the look of the original iPhone, and two utility patents that involve its pinch-to-zoom feature and bounce-back scrolling effect. They will only be arguing about the amount that Samsung will be paying to Apple. The trial is expected to last five days.
