Samsapple: Apple & Samsung make their last stand

It’s been a long road getting here. Here is the skinny if you have been living under a rock: Apple claims that Samsung “slavishly” copied its mobile products (specifically the iPhone and iPad) and Samsung is countering with the defense that it didn’t.

Last week US District Judge Lucy Koh told the two companies to talk about a settlement over the phone “at least once” before the case reaches the jury. “It’s time for peace,” said the judge during the case in San Jose, California. Koh also said that she could see “risks here for both sides,” if the case comes down to a jury. Apparently the two companies were unable to come to an agreement so it’s jury time.

At stake for this patent war, upward of US$3-billion in damages and the future of design in mobile devices, innovation and dare I say it competition?

Both companies delivered their closing arguments to a jury in California. The four hours of closing arguments saw Apple’s attorney Harold McElhinny argued that when Samsung was faced with a “crisis of design” it looked to the iPhone for inspiration reports AllThingsD. According to the report, McElhinny said that Samsung “copied and emulated” Apple’s designs without taking any of the risks that Apple had taken.

“They were copying the worlds most successful product,” McElhinny said. “How do we know that? We know it from Samsung’s own documents. We see how they did it.”

“Apple took five years to bring this revolution to US; Samsung took three months to copy it. That’s the truth and that’s simple, clear, and not disputed.” said McElhinny, making reference to the three months Samsung spent developing the Galaxy S smartphone.

He then stated that “Samsung’s leadership was bound and determined to cash in on the iPhone’s success”.

“Samsung was the iPhone’s biggest fan,” McElhinny said. “They knew a good thing when they saw it. They tried to compete with it, and when they couldn’t, they copied it.”

When Samsung’s attorney, Charles Verhoeven, got his shot he criticised Apple’s competitive strategy. “It’s not against the law to be inspired by your competition,” said Verhoeven, arguing that Apple can’t patent “a rectangle with rounded corners.” Going to compare current smartphone design to TVs, which changed across brands from thick heavy boxes to black, flat rectangles.

“Apple’s here asking for what it is not entitled to,” Verhoeven said. “It’s here asking you to prevent its largest competitor from giving consumers want they want…. Rather than competing in the marketplace, they are trying to win in the courtroom. … It’s attempting to block its most serious competitor from even playing the game.”

Samsung’s closing leverages the spirit of competition and hindering it. “Your decision, if it goes Apple’s way, could change the way competition works in this country,” Verhoeven said.

Now the nine member jury will now wade through 109 pages of instructions on how to determine their verdict and a 20-page form in which to deliver it.

According to CNN, Judge Koh “expressed concern” around what is ahead for the members of the jury stating that they could be “seriously confused.” Due to the size of the instructions, which includes recaps of accusations, key terminology, and directions on how to operate the smartphones and tablets.

“I need everyone to stay conscious during the reading of instructions, including myself” said Koh.

Samsung and Apple also do business with each other. Apple is one of Samsung’s largest customers for components for the iPhone and iPad. An interesting question will be if the verdict will impact badly on their business relations.