US jurisdiction report: Patent clash of the titans continues
While we don’t know the extent of Apple’s investment in attorneys’ fees in this patent war, it is safe to say that it might have already spent in excess of $100 million. And, of course, Samsung’s legal bills in this patent fight might match Apple’s.
The tax deductibility of such sums does little to diminish the significant financial commitment that this represents, regardless of the financial size or health of a company.
The Apple v Samsung patent war carries with it far more than financial benefits and liabilities. It is a psychological war in which each company is projecting to its customer base the appearance of power, equity, morality, and basic fairness. The war brings into play a complex US patent system that encompasses design patents as well as utility patents.
The average observer is challenged to understand the intricacies facing trial judges as they sort through the conflicting assertions of fact, the applications of specific patent laws dealing with liability and damages, the equities to be balanced between the parties, and the effects of decisions upon the purchasing public, to name but a few. To make matters even more complicated, the Apple v Samsung patent trial occurred before a jury, not solely before a judge, which added a degree of uncertainty that is hard to measure.
It is sometimes hard to fathom the size of the success that Apple has achieved in the marketplace, with its iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Mac product lines. Its cash reserves as of May 2017 exceed a staggering $256 billion, up $10 billion from the previous quarter, as reported by CNBC. This represents a formidable war chest to be faced by Samsung, a giant in its own right, as well as an asset base that Apple must seek to protect.
With the value of IP having grown in recent times to trillions of dollars, protection of patents and other forms of IP is prominent within companies’ business plans and strategies. Failure to enforce patent assets against infringers will risk their owners’ abandonment of highly valuable IP rights. It is therefore understandable that Apple pursued both patent protection for its iPhone, and enforcement of design patents covering the appearance of these products.
