In Apple v. Samsung, the jury has spoken

Apple and Samsung both rested their cases this week in the ongoing billion-dollar patent infringement dispute, and the jury has found Apple the clear victor.

After 21 hours of deliberation, a nine-person jury Friday afternoonsided with Apple on a majority of its patent infringement claims against Samsung Electronics. The jury also awarded Apple more than $1 billion in damages.

Apple had originally sought $2.75 billion in damages and although it wasn't unanimous on all counts, the verdict was overwhelmingly in Apple's favor.
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Apple's closing arguments had focused on the documents at the heart of its courtroom offensive. The company's attorney highlighted a series of internal Samsung documents, many of which showed that Samsung looked to Apple's devices for cues when designing its software icons and general features.

Samsung closed its case by painting Apple as a company that is stifling market competition not just in the U.S. but in the tech world at large. And it argued that any product design similarities are not copying, but benchmarking -- the practice in which companies keep up with rivals on things like screen size, battery life, and other core features.

The option to appeal could drag this case on for several more years. A separate appeals case between the two regarding software elements of Android and a potential ban on the Galaxy Nexus is set to start in 2014.

Further complicating matters is this week's decision from a South Korean courtthat both companies infringed on each others' patents, resulting in bans and fines on both sides. The two have sued each other in multiple courts in multiple countries, potentially extending the entanglements for years.

So while a verdict might not have much of a near-term impact,the potential ramifications are huge.
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Updated at 5:04 p.m. PT with the jury's verdict.