Healthcare Matters

Did you know that a jury last Friday ruled in favor of Apple’s patent infringement claims against Samsung? That the verdict was such a thorough beat down of Samsung, Android, etc., that it could change the face of the industry? Apple’s “take no prisoners” strategy –a Jobs’ legacy– seems to be working. The experts say that the verdict will embolden Apple to continue its patent wars with its other global smartphone competitors.

Here’s a layman’s summary of the jury verdict:

• The “pinch-to-zoom” gesture and other touch sensitive navigation commands were all successfully patented by Apple. The jurors found Samsung guilty of infringement in this area, as most all Samsung models use these common (actually ubiquitous) features.
• “Tap-to-zoom” –yet another navigation method that allows users to zero in on one displayed element—was also found to be an infringement and it, too, is present in most Samsung models.
• The “bounce back effect” is that action we experience when we scroll through a list of contacts and hit the top or bottom –and the screen “bounces back.” Successfully patented as feature unique to Apple, the jury sided with Apple’s claim that Samsung phones that have this feature (most all of them) are also guilty of infringement.

If you’re keeping score, Samsung just went 0 for three. And it gets worse:

• Should Samsung have known enough about these and other similar infringements to keep its subsidiaries from making the same error? The jury said, “yes,” that Samsung should have known. Was it willful infringement? Samsung may have stupidly allowed the wrong things to happen, but was it intentionally stupid? Again, the jury ruled that most of Apples’ claimed infringements were willful on the part of Samsung, allowing the judge to award Apple with triple damages, per instance.

Moving on…

• The jury ruled that the iPhone’s design, including the physical location of basic function buttons, was copied and that even the style and location of Samsung’s on-screen icons were lifted. Not all Samsung models were guilty of this infringement, just its most popular ones.
• Naturally, Samsung tried to claim that Apple’s patents were not valid. The jury not only disagreed –across the board—but it reaffirmed the integrity of Apple’s patents.
• The jury awarded Apple $1 billion in damages and dismissed all of Samsung’s counterclaims.

The last beat down of this magnitude that I can recall was Mel Gibson’s day in divorce court. In all seriousness, Samsung’s appeal is going to highlight the harm this verdict will bring to the American consumer; how our patent system is broken; how Apple is shameless in its defense of certain design (e.g. the shape of its phone) and feature patents (e.g. “pinch to zoom”); and how Apple is treading dangerously close to anti trust mischief –all this despite the fact that Samsung actually sells more phones.

But sadly, it all may be true.

I readily admit that the Apple shareholder in me doesn’t want to hear any of this. After all, Apple has a right to protect its designs. And there can be no question that Apple’s vision has produced innovations that the rest of the industry emulates. “It’s almost as good as the iPhone” is how industry critics have been reviewing most every Android device now for years.

But with Apple’s success comes a responsibility –and/or a sensibility– that it needs to figure out. Leading an industry and bullying an industry are not the same thing. “Not letting go” was a Jobs’ trait. Let’s hope Apple’s new CEO, Tim Cook, is smart enough to know when and where to back off. If he doesn’t, my bet is that it will be Samsung doing the celebrating when all is said and done, and that Apple will be guilty of having overplayed what should have been a winning hand.

—Tom Finn