Apple lawyer claims copying is center of $2B Samsung infringement case

At the $2 billion patent infringement trial of two of the biggest mobile technology firms in the world, a lawyer for Apple Inc told the court that Samsung Electronics Co has built its growing market lead in the smartphone industry by copying off from the iPhone maker's products in the last several years. Yesterday, the two companies presented their final arguments, signaling the end of the most-watched trial. The presiding court has heard four weeks' worth of testimony, with the jury beginning their deliberations yesterday afternoon. Bloomberg said that the jury is expected to resume their deliberations today.

According to attorney Harold McElhinny, Samsung then only had 5% of the UK market share in 2007, at the time when Apple introduced its flagship product. He also said that Samsung, who did not have a touch smartphone then, had been copying feature after feature after feature of the iPhone methodically for its own devices. This, McElhinny said, had made Samsung the leading smartphone seller in the world. It also supposedly helped when the smartphones were powered by Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

Data compiled by Bloomberg revealed that Apple and Samsung had been battling to dominate the very lucrative smartphone market, which is as of last year, is worth $338.2 billion. Samsung currently reigns at 31% industry revenue share, while Apple only has 15%.

Bloomberg said McElhinny's final arguments seemed to recall a theme Apple's lawyers have used in its 2012 trial, of which it won $930 million in damages from Samsung.

"The only products that are selling are Apple products and Samsung products that infringe Apple products. It is literally a two-horse race," he said, referring to Samsung driving almost every other competitor in the market.

Samsung's lawyer, Bill Price, told jurors that McElhinny had been using the term "copy" frequently to incite anger. Moreover, Price also pointed out how Apple's evidence indicate that the iPhone maker itself does not practice or use three of the five patents currently at issue.

"You can't copy something from the iPhone if it's not in the iPhone. Samsung didn't copy it, Google didn't copy it. You can't copy it if it isn't there," Price said.

Tags

Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co, Apple patent infringement case

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