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All is fair in love and (patent) war, but apparently not when it comes to awarding damages in patent litigation. After nearly 18 months of protracted trench-warfare between Apple and Samsung’s formidable IP legal teams in the Northern District Court of California, Judge Lucy Koh surrendered the matter to a panel of 9 laymen (and women). A mere 22 hours later the (well rested and fed) jury had finished studying Judge Koh’s 109 page instructions and 26 pages of the parties’ juror forms, answered all 56 factual and legal questions and ticked all of the 250+ boxes of the baffling verdict form. In doing so the jury managed to adjudicate on more than 700 legal arguments and delivered 30 different judgments.
The result? An astonishing landslide victory for Apple and a simultaneous award of damages set precisely at $1 051 855 000.00 (R 8 613 000 000.00). Not to be outdone in skill or efficiency, Judge Koh noticed a minor error in calculation, after which Samsung received a 0.24% discount. The final number: $1 049 343 540.00 (R 8 597 000 000.00).
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Written by Cobus Jooste
Fellow of the Chair of Intellectual Property
Lecturer – Department of Mercantile Law
Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Law
Tel: +27(0) 21 808 3561/9402 (direct)
Email: cobusj@sun.ac.za
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