Apple Persuades Jury, but Galaxy S III Could Still Dominate

by Holly Shoemaker

Apple has won the current legal battle against Samsung in the United States. After not even three days of deliberation, a jury found Samsung guilty of “unlawful” infringement, and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages. The "unlawful" part means that the judge could triple the amount Samsung owes. The jury found Apple did not violate any of Samsung’s patients.

Instead of rehashing the details of the case, I have focused on my initial reactions beyond the only taking two and a half days part to reach a verdict.

Not the End of Legal Battles and Not Global Domination

This ruling will not stop impending lawsuits, or ones that Apple decides to pursue now that it has won this one. As a quick recap, Apple won a pre-trial injunction against the Google Nexus tablet. However, a federal judge in Chicago threw out a lawsuit against Motorola, but litigation continues with the two companies and the International Trade Commission.

In South Korea, a court found that Apple and Samsung both infringed patents. The Court ordered Samsung to halt sales of its 10 products, including the Galaxy S II, and banned Apple from selling four products, including the iPhone 4.

Samsung May Still Rule with Galaxy S III

Based on the verdict, the Court could ban the Galaxy line of smartphones in the United States. However, many analysts expect Samsung to take swift action to alter any designs that violate patent infringements. Samsung has said the company started making changes when Apple took action over a year ago.

What Apple cannot do with this lawsuit is challenge the Galaxy S III, as that was not part of the lawsuit. The ruling could cause people to see Apple as greedy and check out why the S III has gained popularity in the United States and abroad.

Consumers Lose

I agree with Samsung who later called the ruling “a loss for the American consumer.” To cover the costs of tweaking its products, Samsung could raise the price of its products, meaning consumers will ultimately pay Apple, regardless if they are customers or not. The verdict does tests the limits of capitalism as it could stifle competition.