Fresh War as Apple Sues Samsung for $2 Billion

The Apple vs. Samsung war doesn’t seem likely to end very soon as the former has again taken the latter to court over copyright infringement.

Apple has alleged in a new $2 billion suit that the South Korean company stole its designs and features for use in its most recent phones.

This latest matter is coming up less than 2 years after Samsung was ordered to pay$900 million in damages to Apple for infringing on its patents.

The Guardian reports:

The most attention grabbing claim in the case is Apple’s demand that market leader Samsung, which sold one in three of all smartphones last year, pay a $40 royalty for each device running software allegedly conceived by Apple.

That is more than five times more than the amount sought in the previous trial and well above other precedents between smartphone companies. If Apple prevails, the costs to Samsung could reach $2 billion. Apple’s costs, if it lost, are expected to be about $6 million.

The other new twist in the case is that Samsung hope to draw Google into the battle by calling the engineers who designed the search giant’s Android system – which is used by Samsung’s phones – to give evidence explaining how they built it independently of Apple .The latest case, which begins on Monday in San Jose with jury selection, will be tried less than two years after a federal jury found the South Korean firm was infringing on Apple patents.

Samsung was ordered to pay about $900m but is appealing and has been allowed to continue selling products using the technology. Apple this time accuses Samsung of infringing on five patents on newer devices, including Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

In a counterclaim, Samsung says Apple stole two of its ideas to use on iPhones and iPads.

“Apple revolutionised the market in personal computing devices,” Apple claims in court filings. “Samsung, in contrast, has systematically copied Apple’s innovative technology and products, features and designs, and has deluged markets with infringing devices.“

Samsung countered that it has broken technological barriers with its own ultra-slim, lightweight phones. “Samsung has been a pioneer in the mobile device business sector since the inception of the mobile device industry,” Samsung said. “Apple has copied many of Samsung’s innovations in its Apple iPhone, iPod, and iPad products.”

The case underscores a much larger concern about what is allowed to be patented with experts questioning whether Apple should be allowed to make its case.