And the fallout from last week’s Apple vs. Samsung verdict continues. Apple’s stock opened this morning at an all-time high of $680 per share, with a market cap of $637 billion, and Samsung is down more than 7%.
But the Korean smartphone-maker says it isn’t worried. After releasing a public statement over the weekend, Samsung posted a memo to its employees online vowing to continue to fight Apple’s charges…
“We initially proposed to negotiate with Apple instead of going to court, as they had been one of our most important customers. However, Apple pressed on with a lawsuit, and we have had little choice but to counter-sue, so that we can protect our company.
Certainly, we are very disappointed by the verdict at the US District Court for the Northern District of California (NDCA), and it is regrettable that the verdict has caused concern amongst our employees, as well as our loyal customers.
However, the judge’s final ruling remains, along with a number of other procedures. We will continue to do our utmost until our arguments have been accepted.
The NDCA verdict starkly contrasts decisions made by courts in a number of other countries, such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and Korea, which have previously ruled that we did not copy Apple’s designs. These courts also recognized our arguments concerning our standards patents.
History has shown there has yet to be a company that has won the hearts and minds of consumers and achieved continuous growth, when its primary means to competition has been the outright abuse of patent law, not the pursuit of innovation.
We trust that the consumers and the market will side with those who prioritize innovation over litigation, and we will prove this beyond doubt.”
It’s interesting that Samsung says that it “initially proposed to negotiate” with Apple, as that’s exactly what Tim Cook said. Both sides did meet several times over the course of the trial in an attempt to reach a settlement, but obviously neither company was willing to budge enough on their demands to make it happen.
Samsung’s also correct in saying that this US-based ruling starkly contrasts those in other countries. Just last month, a UK judge ruled that not only was Samsung not guilty of infringement, but ordered Apple to publish an advert on its website and in several newspapers stating that Samsung did not copy the iPad.
But all it takes is one look at the evidence to see that Samsung used Apple’s products for inspiration. The question is, at what point does it go from inspiration to outright copying, and what should the penalty be for that. So far it’s $1 billion dollars, but the battle is far from over.
What do you think of Samsung’s statement?
[Samsung]