Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) brought on its most potent
set of witnesses to testify against Samsung's monopolistic practices in the
closing hours of the legal battle that the two companies are against each other
over patent rights and violations.
The iPhone maker got witnesses to say that the 2.4
percent royalty that Samsung had demand for the use of wireless patents on the
iPhone was discriminatory and distorted the decision making process and its
commercial prospects.
Richard Donaldson, who had worked with Texas
Instruments as it lead patents attorney said that the royalty rate asked for by
the Korean handset maker was not justified since the patents enabled just a
minute portion of the smartphones features.
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New York University professor, Janusz Ordover
described the royalty rate as a `hold up".
"Samsung's conduct distorted the decision making
process" in setting standards, said Ordover, a former deputy assistant
attorney general for the Justice Department's antitrust division. "It
enabled Samsung's technology to be introduced, to become part of the standard.
They have acquired holdup power."
While Apple has accused Samsung of copying the designs
of its iPhones and iPads for its Galaxy range of smart devices, the Korean
company has said that Apple had infringed on its wireless technologies patents.
The Jury deliberations are set to begin on August 21,
along with the closing arguments.
There is a lot at stake for the two companies, who
between them control more than half of the smartphone market. They are battling
for domination of the market that has been estimated by various authorities at
upwards of $290 billion.
If Samsung loses it as to pay more than $2 billion in
damages to Apple besides facing the prospect of a ban on the sale of its Galaxy
smartphones in the United States.
About a dozen legal battles are being waged by them in
various courts across four continents.
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