Tech titans Apple, Samsung in US court

30 Jul 2012, 7:25 am   -   Source: AAP

Apple and Samsung are set to face off in a US court in a closely watched trial over control of the smartphone and computer tablet markets.

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Two tech titans will square off in a US court in a closely watched trial over control of the smartphone and computer tablet markets.

Apple Inc filed a lawsuit against South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co last year alleging the world's largest technology company's smartphones and computer tablets are illegal knock-offs of its popular iPhone and iPad products.

The Cupertino, California-based company is demanding $US2.5 billion ($A2.4 billion) in damages, an award that would dwarf the largest patent-related verdict to date.

Samsung counters that Apple is doing the stealing and that some of the technology at issue - such as the rounded rectangular designs of smart phones and tablets - have been industry standards for years.

The US trial is just the latest skirmish between the two over product designs.

A similar trial began last week, and the two companies have been fighting in courts in the United Kingdom and Germany.

The case is one of some 50 lawsuits among myriad telecommunications companies jockeying for position in the burgeoning $US219 billion market for smartphones and computer tablets.

In the United States, US District Court Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose last month ordered Samsung to pull its Galaxy 10.1 computer tablet from the US market pending the outcome of the trial, though the judge barred Apple lawyers from telling the jurors about the ban.

"In some sense the big part of the case is not Apple's demands for damages but whether Samsung gets to sell its products," said Mark Lemley, a Stanford Law School professor and director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science, and Technology.

Lemley also said a verdict in Apple's favour could send a message to consumers that Android-based products such as Samsung's are in legal jeopardy.

A verdict in Samsung's favour, especially if it prevails on its demands that Apple pay its asking price for certain transmission technology it controls, could lead to higher-priced Apple products.

Lemley and other legal observers say it's rare that a patent battle with so much at stake doesn't settle short of a trial.

Court-ordered mediation sessions attended by Apple's chief executive Tim Cook and high-ranking Samsung officials failed to resolve the legal squabble, leading to a highly technical trial of mostly expert witnesses opining on patent laws and technology.

Cook is not on the witness list and is not expected to testify during what is expected to be a four-week trial.

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