A jury has been selected in the US to decide the merits of Apple's claims that Samsung Electronics' smartphones and computer tablets are illegal knockoffs of the iPhone and iPad.
Lawyers for both sides were expected to deliver their opening arguments this morning in a San Jose federal courtroom, followed by Apple calling its first witness.
Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics last year alleging the world's largest technology company's smartphones and computer tablets are illegal knockoffs of its popular iPhone and iPad products.
Cupertino-based Apple is demanding US$2.5 billion ($3.1 billion) in damages, an award that would dwarf the largest patent-related verdict to date.
Samsung countered that Apple is doing the stealing and that some of the technology at issue such as the rounded rectangular designs of smartphones and tablets have been industry standards for years.
The trial is expected to last more than a month.
The case is just the latest skirmish between the two companies over product designs. A similar trial began last week, and the two companies have been fighting in courts in the United Kingdom and Germany.
Industrywide, some 50 lawsuits have been filed by myriad telecommunications companies jockeying for position in the burgeoning US$219 billion market for smartphones and computer tablets.
US District 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 upcoming trial, though the judge barred Apple lawyers from telling the jurors about the ban.
Brian Love, a Santa Clara University law professor and patent expert, said that even though the case will be decided by 10 jurors, the judge has the authority to overrule their decision if she thinks they got it wrong.
Mark Lemley, a Stanford Law School professor, 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.
- AP
