After presenting all the evidence in its possession, Apple rested its case in the patent dispute case against Samsung today. In the case Apple brought against the South Korean consumer electronics giant, the burden of proof fell on Apple to prove that Samsung knowingly copied the design of the iPhone when designing its Galaxy line of devices. As expected, Samsung argued that Apple failed to meet its legal obligation and that the case should be dropped.
Judge Lucy Koh was having none of it, though she did concede some of Samsung’s points in the objection, deciding to throw out a few Samsung devices from the laundry list of affected devices. The Samsung Galaxy Ace, as well as the international versions of the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II were dismissed from the case. The move can be viewed as a hollow victory for Samsung, as the majority of the damages being sought in the case pertain to the U.S. variants of these devices. Further, Judge Koh’s dismissal does not prevent Apple from going after Samsung for the dismissed devices in pending cases with Samsung USA’s parent company.
Now that Apple’s case is finished, Samsung’s task is clear; the company must prove to the jury that it is not infringing on Apple’s patents. In addition, Samsung will try to persuade the court that Apple shouldn’t have been granted the patents in the first place, either because the technology itself was not patentable, or more likely, that Apple’s inventions weren’t actually new. Samsung will base at least part of its argument on a service called LaunchTile, which was designed to allow one-handed use of a smartphone through zooming, and was created in the summer of 2004.
Once the claims from Apple have been properly defended, Samsung will turn its focus to its counter suit against Apple. Samsung is arguing that Apple violated some of Samsung’s own patents, and the company will attempt to convince the jury to rule in its favor.
The case should be winding down this week, giving the jury time to deliberate and decide whether or not Apple should be awarded the $2.5 to $2.75 million in damages it is seeking.
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