The Apple-Samsung dispute encompassed 50 lawsuits in nine countries. The first litigation in the U.S., termed the “patent trial of the century,” resulted in a $1 billion jury verdict for Apple. In the end, verdicts, injunctions and court judgments around the world made little difference in the marketplace. The court cases moved too slowly, decisions often conflicted and many were reversed, limited or became largely irrelevant because they didn’t keep pace with new product offerings. Apple and Samsung agreed to dismiss all of the non-US cases in August 2014.
In the September issue of Association of Corporate Counsel ACC Docket, Les Schiefelbein, Rachel Koch and I discuss why international arbitration would have provided Apple and Samsung a more efficient and focused process. A properly coordinated arbitration would have provided timely, definitive results, while saving many tens of millions of dollars spent on court cases, which could instead have been invested in new innovation.
Gary
