Apple v Samsung: Jury gets the case but read this blog and YOU decide
So now it's up to the jury: seven men and two women will today start the process of deciding the outcome of the multi-billion battle between Apple and Samsung .
The IPhone 4S
A minute-by-minute blog of the last day by Howard Mintz of the San Jose Mercury Tribune makes fascinating reading.
Find it at http://tinyurl.com/8p8sfmv. By the time you've finished reading it, you might well decide who is most likely to win.
In closing arguments, Apple's lead attorney, Harold McElhinny, called Samsung an unrepentant copier. He claimed Samsung executives deliberately and "recklessly" infringed the patents on Apple's iPhone and iPad.
"The damages in this case should be large because the infringement has been massive," McElhinny said. "We have demonstrated that Samsung has violated each and every one of our intellectual property rights."
Samsung hit back , claiming Apple were trying to squelch competition through the courts. Samsung now sells more smartphones than Apple.
Samsung attorney Charles Verhoeven derided Apple's bid for $2.5 billion or more in damages.
"Your decision, if it goes Apple's way, could change the way
competition works in this country," he said. "Rather than competing in the marketplace, Apple is seeking a competitive edge in the courtroom."
The jurors have been given a 20-page verdict form and 109 pages of legal instructions - and careful instruction by the judge.
Apple alleges Samsung copied everything from icon design to the rounded edge on iPhones, fostering consumer confusion.
Apple's lawyers have reminded jurors of internal Samsung documents that indicated the company was intent on duplicating the success of the iPhone after its 2007 release.
"Apple took five years to bring this revolution to us," Apple attorney William Lee told the jury. "Samsung took three months to copy it."
Google at one point warned Samsung that its smartphones looked too similar to the iPhone, but Samsung did not budge , Apple's lawyers said. Google's Android operating system runs on Samsung devices.
The South Korean company denies copying and has countersued Apple for allegedly infringing some of Samsung's basic patents, such as its wireless data technology.