Apple wants ‘billions’ from Samsung in patent case
Apple will seek billions of dollars in damages from Samsung when a high-profile patent lawsuit between the companies goes in front of a California jury next week.
Details of Apple's claim were included in documents submitted overnight to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where the trial is scheduled to begin on Monday.
"Samsung has reaped billions of dollars in profits and caused Apple to lose hundreds of millions of dollars through its violation of Apple's intellectual property," Apple's trial brief claims.
Combining Samsung's revenue from sales of all phones and tablet PCs that allegedly infringe on Apple's patents, $500 million in profits Apple assumes lost because of the Samsung handsets, and $25 million in royalty damages, Apple's lawyers will ask the jury to award "a combined total of $2.525 billion," the filing said.
In its own trial brief, filed shortly after Apple submitted its documents to the court, Samsung called the Apple request "a natural extension of its attempt to monopolize the marketplace."
"Damages are meant to compensate, not confer an absurd windfall at the expense of competitions [sic] and consumers worldwide," it said.
At the heart of the case are a handful of patents covering design aspects of smartphones and some of the technology used inside the phones. The case is being closely watched, not just because it provides a very public arena for two high-profile companies to do direct battle, but because Apple's product design has proved so influential in the last few years.
The high stakes are a compelling reason for the companies to settle before the trial even begins and Reuters reported Monday they have been attempting to do just that.
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with senior executives from Samsung in California last week, the second such meeting between the two companies this year, but they were unable to come up with a settlement that would end the litigation, according to Reuters.
The two sides are also scheduled to meet for a final pre-trial hearing later Tuesday.
(Source: infoworld.com)
