- Apple is seeking more than $2.5 billion in a case accusing Samsung of infringing on designs and other patents.
- Samsung counters that Apple infringed on its patents for wireless communication.
- The case has huge financial implications for both firms and the burgeoning industry for mobile devices.
Jury selection was set to open Monday in a U.S. federal court in the blockbuster patent case pitting Apple Inc. (IW 500/9) against Samsung Electronics Co. (IW 1000/12), which accuse each other of copying patents for smartphones and tablets.
Apple is seeking more than $2.5 billion in a case accusing Samsung of infringing on designs and other patents from the iPhone and iPad maker in the trial in San Jose, Calif.
Samsung counters that Apple infringed on its patents for wireless communication, so the jury will sort out the competing claims.
It is one of several cases in courts around the world involving the two electronics giants in the hottest part of the tech sector, tablet computers and smartphones.
While the results so far have been mixed in courts in Europe and Australia, Samsung clearly is on the defensive in the U.S. case.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, who will preside in the jury case barring any last-minute settlement, has issued two temporary injunctions against U.S. sales of Samsung's 10-inch Galaxy tablet and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone developed with Google.
To make matters worse, a magistrate ruled that Samsung failed to retain key evidence in the case by allowing emails to be destroyed after learning of the lawsuit.
That will mean Koh can issue an "adverse inference" instruction to the jury.
