Post 10: Updated Patent War between Apple and Samsung

Recently, two pieces of news has attracted my attention. One is “US Judge Slashes $450 Million from Award in Apple-Samsung Patent Lawsuit”, which talks about U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh invalidated about $450 million of $1 billion award to be paid by Samsung in a landmark patent lawsuit from Apple; meanwhile, she denied Apple’s request for an increase in damages. A new trial is being expected in order to award damages some mobile devices. The other happened earlier this week (Thurs, Feb 8) named “Samsung Electronics says loses a Japan patent lawsuit to Apple”. It stated that a Tokyo court ruled in favor of Apple in a patent lawsuit over mobile devices filed by Samsung Electronics.

It seems like Apple won the first round earlier this week, while Samsung won the second round later. It has been almost two years since the first patent lawsuit between Apple and Samsung on April 15, 2011. Regardless of who the defendant plaintiff is, patent disputes can sometimes become very boing. Despite the importance of patent law, it is still a pretty dry subject. Patent litigation can sometimes become very boring because arguments from both sides tend to focus on very small details, almost only the industry insiders will understand and concerns. As what has been mentioned On Monday’s lecture, sometimes, even the patent litigation lawyer cannot understand the professional words as well. Since Samsung Apple patent cases occur in four continents and two patent portfolio covers worldwide, it is unlikely to settle the case, and both sides are at risk of encountering products prohibited. As what I said in my blog last week, most consumers now have no intention of selecting the third operating system. Android and iOS are still the dominant operating system. Which means the patent war between these two companies wouldn’t end soon and easy. You may think who cares, or you are happy to be the audience of the battle. You may even think you are the third party that reaps the benefits from the tussle since sometimes you can get the cheaper phone from their price competition. Have you thought about how large the cost of legal proceedings and authorizations are, and who are paying for it? It runs out you, consumers, are the final payer of those “dazzling” and boring lawsuits. Now, let me ask you, do you still want to watch the battle?