A California jury will start to deliberate today after sitting in on a lengthy and historic trial over Samsung’s alleged patent infringement against Apple (News - Alert).
Closing arguments were made by both sides on Tuesday in San Jose, Calif. federal court, with Apple’s attorney claiming Samsung stole patented features of the iPhone (News - Alert).
But Samsung’s lawyer claimed Apple chose to sue Samsung “rather than competing in the marketplace,” and he defended the spirit of competition in the marketplace, The Journal added.
"Rather than competing in the marketplace, Apple is seeking a competitive edge in the courtroom," Charles Verhoeven told the jurors. "(Apple thinks) it's entitled to having a monopoly on a rounded rectangle with a large screen. It's amazing really."
Verhoeven added that, "It's not against the law in this country to be inspired by your competition."
In response, Apple’s attorney Bill Lee said the company was not attempting to keep Samsung (News - Alert) out of the smartphone market. "All we're saying is, 'Make your own,'" Lee told the jurors.
Over three weeks of testimony, the case included numerous internal company e-mails, statements from designers, and product demonstrations.
Apple is seeking $2.5 billion from Samsung for the alleged infringement. In addition, Apple wants a temporary ban to be made permanent on U.S. sales of the Samsung tablet. It also wants a ban on Samsung smartphones.
An attorney for Apple, Harold McElhinny, told the jurors that damages “should be large because the infringement has been massive," The Associated Press (News - Alert) reported.
Beyond just the possible damages, the case is considered important for the smartphone sector because Samsung’s phones use Google's (News - Alert) Android operating system. Other companies also use the Android OS. Apple and Samsung represent more than half of smartphone sales worldwide, as well.
On the other hand, Samsung claims Apple infringed on several of its patents. Samsung is seeking $399 million from Apple.
If Apple gets all of the damages it desires, the total would be the biggest patent verdict ever in the United States, according to news reports.
Several industry analysts have said that if Samsung loses the case, it would simply redesign its smartphone and computer tablets to circumvent any sales bans.
There have been several legal cases between Apple and Samsung in courts located in Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as in the United States.