US Supreme Court opens Apple-Samsung patent dispute

Nanjing Hua News: Apple and Samsung's patent lawsuit finally hit the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court heard both sides on October 11 local time on how much compensation Samsung should pay for infringing Apple's mobile phone design patent. The court is expected to deliver its verdict in June next year.

It is worth noting that this is the first time in more than a century that the U.S. Supreme Court has heard a design patent dispute.

Timeline of case process

In 2011, Apple filed a lawsuit in a federal court in California, claiming that Samsung mobile phones infringed many patents on Apple's iPhone.

Soon, Samsung also sued Apple for infringing their wireless Internet patents and asked judges in several countries to ban the sale of iPhone/iPad in the local area.

In May 2012, Apple CEO Cook and Samsung CEO Cui Zhicheng met in San Francisco to seek reconciliation, but ultimately failed.

In July 2012, Apple and Samsung went to court in San Jose, USA. Apple sued Samsung for infringement of its three patents, including touch screen operation technology, mobile phone applications, displaying information through small icons and plagiarizing the appearance of iPhone including rounded rectangles, demanding up to $2.5 billion in infringement damages.

In August 2012, the court ruled that Samsung products infringed a number of patents and trade dress of Apple and should compensate Apple for $1.05 billion. Subsequently, Samsung filed an appeal.

On the same day, a South Korea court also ruled that Apple had infringed two technology patents of Samsung Electronics and must stop selling infringing products in South Korea.

In December 2015, the court reduced the compensation to $0.548 billion, but Samsung still believed that it should not pay $0.399 billion of the compensation and filed a request with the US Supreme Court to dismiss the ruling.

Also enemy and friend

Apple and Samsung ostensibly rival each other, in fact, have a close interest relationship. Samsung is the largest competitor in Apple's terminal consumer market, and the relationship between the two parties is "Party A and Party B. At the same time, Apple is one of the largest customers of Samsung chips (mobile communication chips, flash memory chips) and LCD screens.

As a big customer of Samsung, Apple needs to purchase billions of dollars worth of hardware equipment such as memory chips from Samsung every year. Apple's orders are the most profitable part of the entire Samsung business, and Samsung's product quality is favored by Apple.

Battle of Monopoly

Patent rights are naturally monopolistic, and whoever owns the patent has a monopoly on the market. The battle of patents is a battle of monopoly. Apple's biggest competitor in the high-end smartphone market is Samsung, and suing Samsung is defending its monopoly interests with patented weapons.

If the court decides that the patent infringement is established, Samsung will bear the corresponding responsibilities, including stopping the infringement and making damages. Cessation of infringement means that Samsung's infringing products cannot continue to be sold in the relevant market; damages means that Samsung is required to pay Apple substantial infringement damages.

Consumers benefit

For the vast number of consumers, the competition between the smartphone giants has more advantages than disadvantages. Only when there is competition can manufacturers continue to innovate in science and technology and produce better products. Monopolies can limit competition and harm other competitors and consumers.

Apple and Samsung's patent strategy is worth learning. In today's market, science and technology is the primary productive force, and the rise of technology to patent is to strengthen the market monopoly position through law. If patents can be turned into standards, then the people who master the standards can become the makers of market rules.

Related News

In May 2016, Huawei announced that it would file intellectual property lawsuits against South Korea Samsung in the United States and China.

According to Nanjing Huaxun, Huawei said it would file intellectual property lawsuits against South Korea Samsung in the United States and China, including the Northern District Court of California and the Shenzhen Intermediate people's Court. In the lawsuit, Huawei seeks compensation from Samsung for infringement of its intellectual property rights, including high-value patents involving communications technology and software used by Samsung's mobile phones. According to Huawei, the lawsuit involves 4G standard patents and patents related to smartphone functions, which are very important patents for smart terminal products.

Unlike the patent litigation between Apple and Samsung, which is mainly focused on the appearance and software level, Huawei is a large holder of patents on the underlying communication technology, especially in 4G technology, holding a considerable number of core patents, which is more important for mobile phone products.

Huawei launched a lawsuit against Samsung, with the aim of occupying a leading position in the smartphone market. Through this lawsuit, it will help the world to realize the input and output of Huawei mobile phones in innovation and design, which is of great positive significance for improving the brand image of Huawei mobile phones in the industry, and is also a good demonstration for other domestic manufacturers.