After Apple’s epic $1 billion court victory over Samsung, they have filed on Monday list of eight phones of Samsung to be banned in US with immedaite effect. The list of eight phones given by Apple include Droid Charge ( Verizon version), Galaxy S II 4G, Galaxy S II (AT&T version), Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy S II (T-Mobile version), Galaxy S II Epic 4G (Sprint version), Galaxy S Showcase, Galaxy Prevail. The list does not include Samsung’s new flagship Galaxy S III, which was released subsequent to the suit but which is facing separate litigation. Galaxy Note Smartphone is also not included in the list.
The court has set a hearing for September 20, 2012 to consider enforcement of injunctions against Samsung devices. Meanwhile, Samsung has asked the court to dissolve an injunction on its Galaxy Tab 10.1, after the jury found it did not infringe on Apple’s design patent for the iPad tablet. The court will also hear Samsung motions to reduce or dismiss charges and Apple’s request for “punitive” damages, which could triple the award. Samsung is challenging the verdict. Samsung will first ask the trial judge to toss the verdict. Then it will appeal to a court in Washington that specializes in patent appeals. Samsung has also vowed to take the fight all the way to the US Supreme Court, if necessary.
Most of the smartphones listed by Apple are not sold in meaningful numbers in US as majority of them are outdated and have outlived its shelf life.
Even if Samsung lose the appeal in Supreme Court of USA, its business will not be affected much because verdict doesn’t apply outside the USA. This adverse verdict also doesn’t apply to the latest Samsung devices either. The $1 billion in damages represents only 1.5 % of Samsung’s annual revenue. Moreover, Samsung’s has variety of Android phones which are more popular than Apple’s iPhone, which is very expensive and beyond the reach of majority of consumers.
