In a startling turn of events, Samsung Electronics rested its case yesterday against Apple Computer over patent-infringement.
One key witness in the trial said Apple could owe Samsung close to $422 million in royalties in a damages award. Samsung called to the stand David Teece, who is a damages expert at the University of California at Berkeley. Teece arrived at that $422 million figure using a 2.4 per cent royalty rate.
An Apple lawyer, during cross-examination, made Teece reveal that he did not know how Samsung arrived at that 2.4 per cent royalty rate. Although Samsung has been absolved of being a copycat in the United Kingdom, it hasn’t fared as well in the United States. Some of its smartphone and tablet models have been banned from sale there due to the likelihood that the Samsung products violate Apple patents.
In the U.S. case, where everything appears to be going right for Apple, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh barred from evidence in the trial Wednesday remarks made by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs before his death last year. The remarks included Jobs’ statement that he was willing to go “thermonuclear” to “destroy” Google’sAndroid operating system, which is used in Samsung’s tablets and smartphones.
Samsung argued that Jobs’ statements show Apple’s bias and improper motives in pressing its patent claims against the South Korean company. Apple countered that the comments were an inadmissible distraction. Koh sided with Apple and ruled the remarks irrelevant to the case.