Apple vs Samsung: The Complete Picture

By Alex Ferguson, 3L, Gonzaga University School of Law

New technology website, The Verge, put together an incredible timeline of the patent war between Apple and Samsung over various design patents. As the article points out, the war erupted between Apple and Samsung in the United States and then spread throughout the rest of the world. Each side has won some battles in different regions of the world.

In the recently released biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs said, “I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40bn in the bank, to right this wrong.” Additionally, Steve Jobs told Isaacson. “I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.” The biography also reports that Steve Jobs was not interested in settling the claims.

Apple brought suit against HTC, another Android handset maker, in March of 2010 for patent infringement. HTC has counter-sued Apple. The case with HTC is still ongoing. In October 2010, Apple sued Motorola for patent infringement. Apple brought suit against Samsung in April of 2011, also for patent infringement. Even though the suit against Samsung is the most recent of the patent suits filed by Apple, it has garnished the most attention, because of the global scale and ferocity that each side has been fighting.

It will be interesting to see how the cases against Samsung proceed in the coming months as new devices are released and more hearings are held throughout the world. However, more interesting will be how Tim Cook, Steve Jobs successor, handles any settlement offers.

The full timeline, with updated events, can be found at http://goo.gl/DyvkA