Apple trounces Samsung in US legal battle, wins over $1 billion in damages

Apple and Samsung's lengthy legal battle is at an end: and Apple has emerged the clear victor. Samsung must pay the iPhone maker some $1.049 billion in damages for infringing a number of patents and trademarks.

After days of deliberation, a US jury found that Samsung infringed all but one of Apple's patents in the vast majority of the Android-powered devices on trial. The full results are available in the verdict document.

On the other hand, the jurors said that Apple did not infringe any of Samsung's patents. That means that Apple won't have to pay a penny in damages.

The jury found that Samsung copied Apple's 'double tap to zoom' idea, 'pinch and zoom' and the way that pages bounce back like rubber bands when you try and scroll too far off screen.

Samsung also stepped on the iPhone design patents, but the jury decided that the Galaxy Tab did not infringe the iPad's design.

And while Samsung was unable to prove that any of Apple's patents were invalid, Apple managed to argue that two of Samsung's patents - relating to the use of Intel chips - were exhausted, and thus were barred from use.

This is the culmination of a landmark case, which started more than a year ago when Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung. The actual courtroom drama kicked off on July 30th, 2012, and about 40 hours of testimony and evidence - including an internal Samsung document that made clear references to copying the iPhone - were heard.

Apple is obviously quite pleased with the final outcome. In an email to Apple employees, CEO Tim Cook said, "the jury has now spoken. We applaud them for finding Samsung's behavior willful and for sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn't right."

Samsung is, naturally, less pleased about the jury's decision. "It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners," the company said in a statement. The verdict will "lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices."

This isn't the end, of course. There's the inevitable appeals process, and the two sides will return to court in September to discuss possible injunctions. That means that some of the Samsung products cited in the case (including the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab) may be banned from sale in the US.