Apple appears to have won the battle but lost the war. A U.S. jury ordered rival Samsung on Friday to pay around $120 million in damages to the iPhone maker, a figure well below the $2.2 billion Apple had demanded, Reuters reported.
The San Jose, Calif., trial lasted about a month and marked the final match between Apple and Samsung after three years of litigation. Apple had accused Samsung of stealing innovative iPhone features, while Samsung countered that Apple had infringed on its patents for newer versions of the iPhone and the iPad.
The jury found the Seoul, South Korea-based company guilty of infringing on two Apple patents, but Friday was a hollow victory for Apple.
Forbes noted that Apple received just 5.4 percent of the damages it was seeking. The Silicon Valley entity will also have to shell out $158,000 in damages itself after the jury decided Apple had infringed on a Samsung patent. The Android phone maker had claimed $6 million in damages.
"Though this verdict is large by normal standards, it is hard to view this outcome as much of a victory for Apple. This amount is less than 10 percent of the amount Apple requested, and probably doesn't surpass by too much the amount Apple spent litigating this case," said Brian Love, assistant professor at the Santa Clara University School of Law, as quoted by Reuters.
"Apple launched this litigation campaign years ago with aspirations of slowing the meteoric rise of Android phone manufacturers. It has so far failed to do so, and this case won't get it any closer."
A Samsung attorney said in the opening statements of the trial that Apple had an exaggerated portrayal of the importance of the mobile phone features in question. On the other hand, Apple contended that Samsung only entered the smartphone market, making it a two-company race, by stealing Apple innovations.
In 2012, Apple was awarded $930 million in damages from Samsung but failed to convince a judge to issue an injunction to halt sales of Samsung phones, which run Google's Android platform.
After Friday's verdict, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh will again have to decide whether or not to ban Samsung phone sales, but experts say an injunction against the devices is unlikely.
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