Apple had its day in a U.S. court with a jury awarding the company more than $1 billion in an overwhelming patent infringement victory over Samsung. After the presiding judge, Lucy Koh, finishes her assessment of damages, the ultimate payout might actually climb higher. Some Samsung phones might even be prohibited from sale in this country (we'll find out the answer at a scheduled September 20 court hearing).
It all sounds rosy for Apple, which was in an understandably celebratory mood after the jury returned its verdict. Indeed, CEO Tim Cook told his employees that Apple values "originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. And we do this to delight our customers, not for competitors to flagrantly copy."
But while the headlines tell one story, there's another scenario that could unfold, one in which Apple's court win ends up as a Pyrrhic victory. As if they needed a reminder, the lopsided court victory sends a wake up call to rivals, including Samsung, Motorola (Google), HTC, Nokia, RIM, and Microsoft. All have quivers full of patents and plenty of cash to go to court to protect their interests.
Over time, most phones and tablets will have similar designs and behaviors, just like PCs and laptops, or TVs, cars, and newspapers. Rounded or rectangular corners and square icons aren't key points of differentiation, despite Cook's charge of flagrant copying by competitors.
Samsung took the shortest route to competing with the iPhone when it was first introduced by copying some of its features. That expedient business decision factored heavily in the jury's guilty verdict, and it could cost the South Korean company some cash. Samsung would probably make the same decision if it had a do-over so that it didn't fall too far behind Apple, as RIM and Nokia did, and now will file an appeal to the verdict and continue to dominate the smartphone market along with Apple.
