SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — After listening to a month’s worth
of testimony from expert witnesses hired by Apple and Samsung as well as
executives from each company, a Silicon Valley jury of four men and
four women were tasked with sorting out the latest legal dispute over
technology between the world’s two largest smartphone makers.
Apple
is demanding Samsung pay it $2.2 billion after accusing the South
Korean company of infringing five software patents related to
smartphones. Samsung denies the claims and counters that Apple owes it a
little more than $6 million for infringing two of its patents.
The
jury began deliberating late Tuesday and left at 4:30 p.m. PDT without
reaching a verdict. The jurors are scheduled to resume deliberations
Wednesday morning in San Jose.
A lawyer for Apple on Tuesday
accused Samsung of copying key features of its iPhone and iPad products
and demanded $2.2 billion in damages.
An attorney for Samsung
denied the allegations and argued that its Google-developed software
differs from Apple’s operating system.
In his closing argument,
lawyer William Price referred to an email from Apple founder Steve Jobs
indicating that he had ordered employees to wage a "holy war" against
Google and its Android system, believing it was a rip-off of Apple’s
operating system.
Price said that was the sole reason Apple filed the lawsuit against Samsung.
"We
don’t think we owe Apple a nickel," added John Quinn, one of four
Samsung lawyers involved in the company’s closing argument.
Quinn also said Apple wants to monopolize the industry.
"They want to attack Google and Android by attacking the most successful Android maker," he
said.
Apple
lawyer Harold McElhinny told jurors that Samsung’s "illegal strategy
has been wildly successful" and insisted that Google had nothing to do
with the case.
"Despite all the times Samsung mentioned it, you
will not find a single question about Google in your jury form,"
McElhinny said. "Google is not a defendant in this case."
Google spokesman Matt Kallman declined comment on the proceedings.
The four men and four women on the jury began deliberating later in the day.
The
case marks the latest legal fight between Samsung and Apple as each
tries to dominate the $330 billion annual market for smartphones.
Samsung has captured about 31 percent of the smartphone market while Apple retains a 15 percent share.
A
different jury in San Jose presiding over a previous trial regarding
older technology ordered Samsung to pay Apple $930 million. Samsung has
appealed that ruling.
Google may not be a defendant in the current
trial, but evidence introduced by Apple attorneys showed the Internet
search giant has agreed to reimburse Samsung if the South Korean company
is ordered to pay damages on two of the five patents at issue.
In addition, Samsung lawyers called three Google engineers to the witness stand to testify.
The
trial involves five Apple patents that the company accuses Samsung of
using to create nine newer smartphones and a tablet. The features in
question include slide-to-lock, universal searching, quick linking,
background syncing and automatic word correction.
Samsung,
meanwhile, has alleged that Apple infringed two of its patents related
to camera use and video transmission. Samsung is seeking $6.2 million in
damages.
Jobs, who died in 2011, is a Silicon Valley legend
revered for launching Apple in his family’s garage in 1976.
The
Cupertino headquarters of the tech giant is a 15-mile (25-kilometer)
drive from the San Jose federal courthouse where the patent case is
playing.
Prospective jurors were closely questioned before the
trial about connections and views about Apple, which employs about
80,000 workers worldwide.
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