Apple vs Samsung Part II: The ‘Revolutionary’ iPhone Was Copied

Apple today kicked off its second patent infringement trial against Samsung by arguing that the iPhone was a ‘revolutionary’ product, which was copied by the Korean company in 2010, reports Re/Code. The company is therefore seeking as much as $2 billion in damages, noting that various Samsung phones and tablets infringed on at least five of its patents.

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The case will be decided by a recently chosen jury of four women and four men. Initiialy, then jurors were picked. However, one of them was excused after falling ill, while another said serving as a juror for this case would pose a financial hardship. Prior juries, ruling on different patents and earlier Samsung products, awarded Apple $1.5 billion in damages.

Apple attorney Harold McElhinny said during its opening arguments that the company plans to show various internal Samsung documents that will demonstrate that Samsung knew it was violating Apple’s intellectual property. Apple lawyer Bill Lee also addressed Samsung’s counter-claim against Apple as well as the history of negotiation between the two companies.

Samsung sold 37 million infringing phones and tablets in the United States, and Apple wants its share of lost profits from the products it would have sold as well as reasonable royalties on the remaining devices. That large number, McElhinny said, is why Apple is asking for so much in damages. (The company is seeking an average of $33 per phone — and as much as $40 per phone.)

“The scope of Samsung’s infringement has been vast,” he said. “Samsung did not stop with competitive intelligence,” he added. “Copying the iPhone was literally built into the Samsung development process.” He also took issue with the notion that Samsung is merely using the software it gets from Google. “This case is not about Google,” McElhinny said. “It is Samsung that has made the decision to copy these features.”

Samsung is slated to give its opening statement later today.

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