Today Apple achieved perhaps the most important legal victory against Samsung because it will receive 1.05 billion dollars from the Koreans, but it managed to prove once again that its patents were violated by a company that chose to copy them without shame. The representatives of both companies gave statements to the press after reading the verdict, Apple thanks the jurors, talks about morality and the fact that Samsung copied shamelessly, and Samsung says that today's loss will be felt by American consumers who will not be able to buy the products with the technologies copied by at Apple.
Apple press release
We are grateful to the jury for their service and for investing the time to listen to our story and we were thrilled to be able to finally tell it. The mountain of evidence presented during the trail showed that Samsung's copying went far deeper than even we knew. The lawsuits between Apple and Samsung were about much more than patents or money. They were about values. At Apple, we value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. We make these products to delight our customers, not for our competitors to blatantly copy. We applaud the court for finding Samsung's behavior willful and for sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn't right.
Samsung press release
Today's verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer," Samsung said in a statement. "It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices. It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies. Consumers have the right to choose, and they know what they are buying when they purchase Samsung products. This is not the final word in this case or in battles being waged in courts and tribunals around the world, some of which have already rejected many of Apple's claims. Samsung will continue to innovate and offer choices for the consumer.
Leaving the press releases aside, we must discuss the fact that on September 20 will take place a hearing to decide which Samsung products can be removed from sale in the US since they were found to infringe Apple's patents. Apple must submit a request by August 29 to specify the Samsung terminals it wants to remove from sale, Samsung can review that request and on September 20 the court will decide which of the products will be removed from the market, all based on today's decision.
