Miami, FL Law Blog for Entertainment Law, Business Law, and Public Interest

After $1.05 billion loss to Apple in patent battle, what’s next for Samsung?

By Pankaj Ladhar of Manos • Alwine P.L.

Even if Miami readers might have heard a snippet on cable news about this already, there is simply no way around us writing about it — the intellectual property news of the week is Apple’s $1.05 billion verdict against rival Samsung.

Apple had sued Samsung, claiming that the South Korean electronics giant infringed upon Apple’s patents when it made its own line of popular smartphones. On Friday, a jury in San Jose, California, found that Samsung went too far in knocking off the iPhone and iPad. It announced the award, though whether eight infringing Samsung products will now be banned from the U.S. (which Apple is seeking) has yet to be determined.

Technology industry observers have also said it will be interesting to see what, if any, impact the decision has on Samsung. Samsung is known in the industry for imitating other company’s products. but producing them in a lean and efficient manner. The term for companies like Samsung, Canon and Nikon is “fast follower” – they do not come up with their own ideas, but rather think of ways to improve on existing products produced by rivals.

Now, Samsung in particular going to have decide if it can, as a company, innovate instead of just imitate.
Interestingly enough, Samsung actually sells the most smartphones in the world, in part because it offers a wider variety of models, including less expensive ones.

Source: USA Today, “Apple victory means soul-searching for Samsung,” Youkyung Lee, Aug. 28, 2012