Apple's $1B patent award reportedly has Samsung reeling
Senior executive at the Korean electronics giant calls verdict "absolutely the worst scenario," the Korea Times reports.
The $1 billion judgment levied against Samsung for infringing on Apple's patents reportedly has the South Korea company reeling.
While Samsung executives weren't optimistic about an overwhelming victory in a Silicon Valley courtroom last week, the one-sided decision loss apparently caught them by surprise.
"It's absolutely the worst scenario for us," a senior Samsung executive told the Korea Times as he rushed into the company's Seoul headquarters.
CNET has contacted Samsung and Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
Since a jury in a San Jose, Calif., courtroom on Friday decided overwhelmingly in favor of Apple's patent claims against Samsung, the Korea electronics giant has focused on the verdict's effect on the smartphone market. The company called the awarding of $1.05 billion in damages to Apple "a loss for the American consumer" and promised that "this is not the final word in this case."
The case now enters the post-trial motions phase, in which Samsung is expected to file an appeal of the decision and Apple is expected to file for injunctions against Samsung products that violate its patents.
U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the closely watched trial, could also modify the damages award against Samsung, possibly tripling the amount Apple receives.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a companywide e-mail that the case was about "values."
"For us this lawsuit has always been about something much more important than patents or money. It's about values," Cook said in the e-mail. "We value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. And we do this to delight our customers, not for competitors to flagrantly copy."
Complete coverage: Apple v. Samsung, a battle over billions