The jury is deliberating in the lawsuit between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung, but their decision is modified and perhaps complicated by the fact that any damages awarded to Apple will be paid not by the Korean copycat, but by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Google, the creator of the Android platform, agreed to absorb a portion, or the entirety, Samsung’s losses (if any) and court costs because the infringed patents relate to the Mountain View firm’s software, and not Samsung’s hardware. This fact might make the outcome less forgone that it might otherwise seem.
Samsung’s hardware copycatting is frequently thought to be so blatant as to be essentially undeniable, particularly as far as the iPhone goes. A direct visual comparison of Samsung’s phones before and after the Cupertino firm’s flagship telephone release is usually enough to convince the observer that Apple has strong claims against its Korean rival. Samsung patents and internal documents provide confirmation that copying Apple’s designs is one of the Asian company’s frequent strategies, if not the core of its business.
However, the latest round of legal fisticuffs between the two powerful smartphone manufacturers has involved software issues rather than hardware. In many cases, Apple Inc. (AAPL) presented evidence alleging to demonstrate that its software was ripped off in the same manner that its hardware had been. The evidence included detailed internal documents from Samsung’s executives apparently directing designers and software engineers to discard their own approach to software design and use Apple’s instead.
On the other hand, there are some dissonant notes in Apple’s chorus of the just man (or, in this case, just corporation) wronged and persecuted by plagiarist thieves. The strongest of these, perhaps, is that Apple appears to have taken a page out of Samsung’s playbook and attempted to patent Google’s “Pattern Unlock” method after it had already been patented by its Mountain View rival. Pattern Unlock was developed specifically to avoid copying Apple’s Swipe-to-Unlock feature, but the Cupertino firm seemingly contemplated a bit of patent trolling on its own account in this case at least.
Google’s (GOOG) pledge to pay some or all of Samsung’s damages might complicate the decision making process for jurors. American juries are usually more willing to award heavy damages against an infringing foreign firm than against one from the United States. Punishing Samsung in this case will amount to punishing Google, too, and perhaps letting the Korean firm get away Scot free. How the 8 person jury will decide the case is still unknown, and made more difficult to guess by this complicating factor.
(PREDICTION: The jury will find in favor of Apple, but cut the award amount considerably below the $2 billion mark.)
