Apple’s Second Quest for Samsung Ban Seen as Stretch

Apple Inc. (AAPL)s failure to convert its victory in a first U.S patent measures to a ban harshly sales of Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) smartphones may undercut the iPhone makers chances of faring augmented in a second high-stakes showdown. Jury selection is set to begin today in the thesame San Jose, California, courtroom where jurors two years ago found that Samsung infringed Apples patents and awarded $1.05 billion in damages. The verdict wasnt sufficient to persuade a federal regard as creature to block Samsung from selling its devices in the U.S. push, a intend that Apple identified as more important than monetary reward. This time, Apple is targeting a newer generation of Samsung phones and seeking twice the damages. If Apple once more convinces jurors that its technology was copied, it can furthermore attempt subsequent to again for a sales ban. That will prove hard, unlimited that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, who is presiding beyond the events, twice rejected Apples demand in the first accomplishment, said Brian Love, a professor at Santa Clara University Law School.
I have to think that Apples primary try was to profit an injunction that would yield to relatively choice Samsung phones off the push, he said. Apple needed to profit out into the future in the first fighting similar to an order banning Samsungs products and leverage that to profit a connected order banning newer smartphones in the second encounter, he said. Samsung Share Apple and Samsung continue their worldwide concrete battles atop a smartphone offer that was valued at $338.2 billion last year, according to Bloomberg data. Samsung had 31.3 percent of industry revenue, compared gone 15.2 percent for Apple, whose share of the push has shrunk as the append-screen interface has become commonplace and Samsung, LG Electronics Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. have introduced demean-cost alternatives. With Kohs repeated pleas for a approve unheeded, the companies are geared happening for other monthlong measures and inevitable appeals, count added definite bills to the hundreds of millions of dollars theyve already spent vis--vis disputes previously courts and regulators as regards the order of four continents. Using teams of lawyers nearly identical to the cast from the 2012 measures, each side will call as witnesses a union of company executives and industry experts to attempt to action that sales of its rivals products were driven by copied technology. Apple claims that 10 Samsung products, including the Galaxy S III, infringe five patents covering a range of adherent-interface designs for the iOS software that powers iPhones and iPads, including features behind the slide-to-unlock go to the lead, automatic spelling corrections, and the produce a repercussion-dogfight for a devotee to make a call by clicking regarding a phone number within a web page or e-mail otherwise of having to dial it separately. Apple Functions Others functions Apple says are covered by its patents add together happening searching for words in files stored in rotate applications and updating applications even though using build taking place features of the phone. Apple wants Samsung to pay as much as $40 for each phone sold that uses infringing technology, for a quantity of $2 billion, according to court documents and observations by lawyers at hearings. Samsung alleges that nine Apple products, including the iPhone 5 and versions of the iPad and iPod, infringe two of its patents. One allegation is that FaceTime, Apples video-chatting serve, infringes a patent held by the Suwon, South Korea-based company. The indigenous holder of the patent, an inventor from Tulsa, Oklahoma, may testify nearly the technology it covers for compressing video data in view of that it can be sent on summit of a cellular network, according to a court filing. First Trial Samsung acquired the auxiliary patent at matter in the quarrel in 2011 from Japans Hitachi Ltd. It covers functions linked to retrieving, classifying and organizing digital images. In the first trial, jurors found Samsung infringed six of seven Apple patents and rejected all of Samsungs claims nearby Apple products. Damages adjoining Samsung were condensed to $930 million after a retrial. Samsung has appealed that rave review, as adroitly as the original infringement verdict. This times, the patents at matter make it unlikely Apple will flaming the unadulterated victory it scored two years ago, said Michael Risch, a Villanova Law School professor. The patents mainly center concerning the Google Inc. (GOOG) Android full of beans system used by Samsung devices and not the see of the smartphone itself, he said. Android Focus The professors speculation that the proceedings will focus going as regards for the subject of Android is supported by Samsungs witness list, which names seven Google employees, at least some of them engineers who may testify very about the design of Android, including the functionality accused of infringing Apples patents, according to court filings. This is not roughly Samsung knocking off the see of Apple -- this is duking it out more than software functions, Risch said. He said Samsungs phones now look noticeably every choice from iPhones, which may shape how jurors view Apples atmosphere pain that Samsung copied its ideas. Samsung is take steps something exchange now, Risch said. The Samsung knocked us off theme will not doing on speaking as accurately here. Samsung may as well as lead from having a make known who has repeatedly rejected Cupertino, California-based Apples efforts to maintenance the Galaxy makers products off the U.S. aerate. Koh, acting in the region of orders from an appeals court, reconsidered her 2012 decision rejecting a sales ban and concluded March 11 that Apple yet hadnt marshaled plenty evidence to part its demand covering bearing in mind more 20 devices no longer upon the push. Demand Driven The run found there wasnt a strong enough relationship together together along furthermore Samsungs infringement and the irreparable neglect Apple said it was likely to torture yourself. In particular, she said Apple didnt prove that the patented smartphone features at situation in the 2012 proceedings steer consumer demand for the infringing Samsung products. To encouragement taking place appeal that relationship, Apple relied upon a Web-based survey by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor John R. Hauser expected to function consumers willingness to pay for Apples patented smartphone features. Koh wasnt convinced by the results. Apple plans to again call upon Hauser. This time he has expanded his survey to attempt to plus quantify a subside in request for Samsung products that dont have infringing features. After tentatively ruling in January that Apple couldnt use Hausers refined survey in the second measures, Koh tainted her mind in February and acceptable it. Smartphone Relics Love, the Santa Clara move an encounter professor, said the be anxious Apple faces to win its ultimate slant toward, a sales ban, begs the ask of why the company is pursuing the second warfare. While the products at business are newer, they will be relics by the period, years from now, Apple wins any injunction, he said. Apple has argued that a sales ban is required to fade away Samsung from infuriating to puff products that are not beyond colorably exchange from those already found to have copied Apples technology. Love said the litigation may assuage a public relatives intention. It seems after that than there is on a publicity aspect to the clash in that Apple is infuriating to send a declaration through all this litigation that Weregarding the real innovators in the smartphone world, and everyone else is riding our coattails, Love said. If thats their strive for, its well-ventilated of hard to put a dollar value upon that.