Apple v. Samsung: The Good, The Bad and The Sad - Shelly Palmer

The first round of the Apple v Samsung lawsuit is over and Apple emerged victorious In case you haven39t been following it Apple sued Samsung for 25 Billion for infringing on seven of its patents Samsung countersued for 400 million just because it needed to save face It took the jury less than three days to find in favor of Apple for just over 1 Billion in damages and just to stick it to Samsung they threw out Samsung39s countersuitI39m calling this the first round because Samsung will most likely file an appeal From Samsung39s point of view this is a fight to the death and it is unlikely to give up any time soon There are several interesting things going on here so let39s have a look at the good the bad and the sadThe GoodApple39s victory is a victory for every inventor and innovator Patent protection is a very complicated blood sport and when the system works it promotes investment and risk taking and it protects the associated rewards As a patented inventor I am thrilled that Apple went after a copycat and successfully defended its intellectual property While its true that most patents are only as powerful as the entity that owns them the jury found that this patent infringement was blatant if not obvious If Apple didn39t win it would have been a huge blow to the notion of patent protectionSeveral of my learned colleagues have admonished that Apple is a huge company and its overt use of lawsuits as a competitive tool is unwarranted unsportsmanlike and unnecessary I disagree If I were Apple I would defend my intellectual property to the full extent of the law amp8211 it is the only path that makes sense This is an important victory for everyone who has ever gone through the remarkably painful process of writing a patent claim Congratulations to Apple39s legal team for a big winThe BadSamsung offers some extraordinary alternatives to iDevices Most run Google39s Android operating system and at the moment most of the products such as the Samsung Galaxy S III are technologically superior from a features point of view to their Apple counterparts There is a very good chance that the Judge will rule that Samsung must stop selling some of the products that were the subject of the lawsuit Two bad things will occur 1 Samsung engineers will have to scramble to remove the infringing intellectual property so they won39t have time to innovate and 2 Substandard products from other manufacturers will probably fill the gapDon39t get me wrong I applaud Apple39s victory but depending upon how the Judge rules this could be very messy for consumersThe Sad If you39re not AppleThe sad news is that every smartphone and tablet that has a full glass screen looks like an iPad or an iPhone Apple39s design patent portfolio is pretty complete and if you39re smart device looks like an iDevice you39re going to be in trouble What39s worse Apple obviously has defensible patents around finger gestures and Apple is very unlikely to license any of its IP Why should itThe fact is Apple has innovated pioneered and succeeded where dozens of others have failed It created the modern concept of a smart phone and a tablet and it has the law on its side Every consumer electronics company has just been put on notice amp8211 innovate or die If you don39t invent your own new unique patentable smartphone and tablet Apple will wait until exactly the right moment sue you and winActually I39m not sad about this at all but I am wondering did Samsung lose this case because it created products that were inspired by Apple39s Or did it lose because during the discovery phase of the trial Apple was able to show that Samsung executives documented their desire to copy Apple product featuresThis may sound like a trivial issue but it isn39t Steve Jobs allegedly called Android a stolen product amp8211 but this case wasn39t against Google What was stolen What did Apple products actually inspire And what was just the result of a smoking gun Food for thought as the battle for control of our connected lives continuesShelly Palmer is Fox 5 New York39s Onair Tech Expert WNYWTV and the host of Fox Television39s monthly show Shelly Palmer Digital Living He also hosts United Stations Radio Network39s Shelly Palmer Digital Living Daily a daily syndicated radio report that features insightful commentary and a unique insiders take on the biggest stories in technology media and entertainment He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC an industryleading advisory and business development firm and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Academy of Television Arts ampamp Sciences the organization that bestows the coveted Emmyamp174 Awards Palmer is the author of Television Disrupted The Transition from Network to Networked TV 2nd Edition York House Press 2008 the seminal book about the technological economic and sociological forces that are changing everything and Overcoming The Digital Divide How to use Social Media and Digital Tools to Reinvent Yourself and Your Career York House Press 2011 For more information visit shellypalmercomRead all Shelly39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Shelly Palmer ReportCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Apple v. Samsung: The Good, The Bad and The Sad - Shelly Palmer

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