Nine ordinary residents of Silicon Valley began
deliberations on Wednesday to decide on the fate of technology giants Apple
Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung, who between them control more than half of an estimated
$200 billion smartphone market.
Apple sued Samsung in April 2011 saying that the
Korean company had stolen the designs of its iPhone and iPads and used that to
sell its poplar Galaxy range of phones. It is also seeking $2.5 billion in
damages and a ban on the sales of Galaxy devices in the United States.
The Korean handset maker has counter-sued saying that
Apple infringed on its wireless patent technologies and has demanded about $400
million in damages.
In the closing arguments which concluded on Tuesday, a
lawyer for Apple claimed that the Samsung designers had worked day and night to
copy the designs of its devices and used that to build its smartphones and
tablets. It said that it had incorporated what was effectively four years of
investments and efforts made by the Cupertino company and with minimum risk of
gong wrong.
Samsung however said that Apple was wrongly claiming
copyrights on the use of big screens and that it (Samsung) was giving customers
what they wanted - smartphones with big screens.
Towards the end of the trial on the suggestion of
Judge Lucy Koh the chief executives of both companies did make an attempt to
resolve their differences over the phone but that failed.
Analysts and legal experts who have been closely
following the case have said that ultimately it will all boil down to whether
the jurors think that the products of the two companies look alike.
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