Apple and Samsung continue to be at loggerheads over seemingly every action in their second California patent trial, the latest issue being a tentative juror verdict form issued by presiding Judge Lucy Koh on Wednesday.
Even more startling than the news from today's trial that Google offered to indemnify Samsung for Android's infringement of Apple's iPhones patents is the fact that Samsung falsely stated in court filings that that it had not been "seeking indemnification from any third party."
An agreement between Google and Samsung, revealed on Tuesday in the second California Apple v. Samsung patent trial, has the Internet search giant on the hook for legal fees and liability related to up to four Apple patents.
In the ongoing Apple v. Samsung patent trial in California on Monday, a Samsung damages expert said Apple should be granted $38.4 million for all five alleged-infringed patents, far from the $2.19 billion Apple is seeking.
In an industry captivated by cheap commodity components, Apple's ability to command healthy profit margins for "magical," premium priced products designed to delight users—rather than just solve basic problems in a cost effective way—has confounded analysts and pundits for the better part of 40 years. It appears Apple will continue to introduce upscale new products in 2014, rather than following the industry into a race to the bottom in pricing.
During the Apple v. Samsung trial on Friday, Samsung continued its defense by calling on a number of expert witnesses who asserted Apple has grossly exaggerated the value assigned to each of its patents-in-suit.
Samsung recently inked a deal with Swiss Federal Railways, the same organization that accused Apple of copying one of its iconic clock designs, leading some to speculate that Samsung may have sought the contract solely to make a dig at Apple.
Samsung executives discussed Steve Jobs' passing as "unfortunately" having an "unintended benefit for Apple," and at the same time, "our best opportunity to attack iPhone," in internal memos marked "highly confidential," presented in the Apple v. Samsung trial.
In the ongoing Apple v. Samsung patent trial on Tuesday, Samsung continued its defense against by calling on a cavalcade of computer science experts who testified that Apple's patents were not novel, should not have been granted or did not apply to alleged infringing products.
New confidential internal memos presented in the Apple v. Samsung trial detail a "counter tsunami plan" Samsung hoped to set up in response to Apple's iPhone 5 launch, in order to distract from its own Galaxy product vulnerabilities it described as "plastic feeling" with "lack of key feature."
Continuing to grind through its long list of expert witnesses on Monday, Samsung brought up two company executives, as well as three Google engineers, to further its case of non-infringement of five Apple patents.
Before and after versions of Google's internal "software functional requirements" documents released in the Apple vs Samsung trial this week show that prior to Apple's 2007 iPhone debut, Google's vision for Android was a simple button phone running Sun's Java.
A prominent patent law blogger has again raised the argument that Apple's patented features have very little value, while stopping short of saying that Samsung should just stop using the infringing technology.
Samsung on Friday brought up VP of Android Engineering Hiroshi Lockheimer as its first witness in the second California Apple v. Samsung patent trial in a bid to prove the Korean company's devices did not copy Apple's. The main argument: Google invented certain features before Apple patented them.
Apple lawyers on Friday concluded their side of arguments in the latest spat with Samsung, bringing the initial phase of the company's case to a close after five days of court proceedings.
Samsung's success in selling the world's leading volumes of phones through intense, expensive marketing efforts appears to be supporting Android as a platform, but Samsung's internal documents show it has plotted for years to compete against Google with its own mobile OS.
Top secret sales data revealed during the Apple vs. Samsung trial this week shows that Samsung knew that the Galaxy Tab sales figures (and overall Android tablet sales) it and various market research groups had fed to the media were not even remotely true.
Apple's critics contend that it either doesn't have innovative inventions worthy of patents, or has grossly overestimated the commercial value of its patents. Apple Data Detectors is one example that proves both ideas are wrong.
During testimony in the second California Apple v. Samsung patent trial on Tuesday, an Apple damages expert revealed the full damages claim stands at $2.19 billion for lost profits and reasonable royalty fees on five alleged infringed patents.
Samsung has sued Electronic Times for 300 million KRW (about $284,000 US) regarding its reporting related to the company's new Galaxy S5 phone.
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Mikey Campbell
Daniel Eran Dilger
Sam Oliver
AppleInsider Staff
