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TECHNOLOGY A23
Tuesday 19 May 2015
Court agrees Samsung copied Apple, but tosses some damages
BRANDON BAILEY In this Aug. 6, 2014 file photo, a poster advertises Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S5 LTE-A, right, and Apple’s iPhone 5s at a mobile
AP Technology Writer phone shop in Seoul, South Korea.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A
federal appeals court has Associated Press
upheld a jury’s finding that
Samsung illegally copied monetary awards by argu- CEO: Nissan will be ready with
some patented features in ing that Samsung copied autonomous driving by 2020
Apple’s iPhone, but it sided some of its products, it had
with Samsung on one point less success in persuad- YURI KAGEYAMA Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn speaks to re-
that could reduce the $930 ing courts to issue injunc- AP Business Writer porters at the automaker’s headquarters in Yokohama, near To-
million in damages the tions that would have kept YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — kyo, Monday, May 18, 2015.
South Korean company Samsung’s versions off the Nissan Motor Co. will have
had been ordered to pay. market. But since then, the vehicles packed with au- Associated Press
The ruling, coming three California company’s lat- tonomous driving technol-
years after an epic court- est iPhone models have ogy by 2020 but whether determine future cars, Ghosn said Nissan sees au-
room battle between two been phenomenally pop- people will be able to drive show that is what they tonomous vehicles as add-
tech industry giants, could ular and profitable while them on roads is up to gov- want, along with connec- ing to driving pleasure, and
mean yet another trial over Samsung has lost ground ernment regulators, tivity and zero, or very low, a totally driver-less car is
a portion of damages rep- in key markets to competi- Chief Executive Carlos emissions. not at the center of the au-
resenting more than a third tors ranging from Apple to Ghosn said Monday. Connectivity means ac- tomaker’s plans.
of the total award. Legal China’s Xiaomi. Many of the world’s auto- cessing the Internet, see- The autonomous driving
experts, however, say the Samsung and Apple makers, and companies ing movies and duplicat- Nissan foresees will assist or
rivals may be more inclined agreed last year to set- outside the auto industry ing in the vehicle the other enhance driving, he said.
to negotiate a settlement tle all patent disputes still such as Google, are work- experiences a person has Nissan may end up with a
this time around. pending outside the United ing on technologies that at home or in the office, driverless car,
“When this case was first States. Some experts be- allow cars to navigate Ghosn said. but that was not the auto-
filed, it was a big deal. But lieve the companies were without human interven- On zero emissions, he reit- maker’s goal, he said.
I don’t think the litigation awaiting the outcome of tion. erated that Nissan is bank- “That is the car of the fu-
has served all the purposes appeals in two U.S. cases Ghosn said good progress ing on electric cars, rather ture,” he said.
that Apple and Samsung before settling here. is being made toward the than other zero-emissions “But the consumer is more
originally desired,” said Monday’s ruling orders Japanese automaker’s technologies, for the near- conservative,” he said.
Michael Carrier, a Rutgers a trial court in San Jose, goal of delivering that term future. Nissan makes “That makes us cautious.”q
law professor who has fol- California, to reconsider technology by 2020. the Leaf electric car.
lowed the dispute closely. about $382 million in dam- “Our cars will be ready,”
In its decision Monday, the ages that jurors previously he said.
U.S. Federal Circuit Court awarded for the “trade The bigger hurdle for such
of Appeals upheld most of dress” claims, which in- vehicles becoming readily
the findings made by a Cal- volved six models of Sam- available to consumers is
ifornia federal jury in 2012. sung phones. Santa Clara approval from regulators
The jury concluded that University law professor Bri- around the world, he told
several models of Samsung an Love said Apple could reporters at Yokohama
smartphones and tablets still argue it’s entitled to headquarters.
had illegally copied the those damages, however, Ghosn said autonomous
iPhone and infringed on since the same models driving was sure to be part
some of Apple’s patents were also found to have of the cars of the future
for technology and design infringed on patents. because market studies
including touch-screen The same case has already with consumers, especially
controls that let users seen one retrial: After a younger drivers, who will
“pinch” or “double-tap” to judge cut $450 million from
shrink or enlarge an image. an original damage award
Although it upheld the pat- of more than $1 billion. q
ent claims, the Washing-
ton, D.C.-based appeals
court said Apple wasn’t
entitled to damages for its
claims that Samsung had
copied the iPhone’s “trade
dress” or overall appear-
ance.
The long-running case was
one of several lawsuits in
which Apple, Samsung
and other tech companies
locked horns in a global
battle for pre-eminence in
the smartphone market.
Today the smartphone
business is still booming, but
the battles have largely
shifted away from the legal
arena.
While Apple won large
