Business Law

How the Apple-Samsung $1Billion Verdict Complicates Intellectual Property Law

Critics of patent federal legislation and court rulings have long-held that in recent years, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been too lenient in how it awards patents applications.  Now, in the wake of last Friday’s $1 billion Apple v. Samsung jury verdict, that laissez-faire application system may be headed for its inevitable implosion.  The most high-profile indictment of the federal patent system process was by a federal judge, Mr. Richard Posner, in Chicago this past Spring.  In a lawsuit filed in his court, Judge Posner tossed out an entire case between Apple and Google, Inc.’s, Motorola Mobility unit, and prevented both parties from refiling their claims.

As one would expect, Samsung plans on appealing the verdict to a higher court, but in the interim, design firms will be trying to balance the pressures of creating new and innovative products, that do not potentially infringe on another company’s intellectual property, against the risk-reward game of “IP roulette” where they will go ahead and challenge the marketplace with a product that has a similar likeness to a patently protected product.

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