Apple on Tuesday claimed that Samsung should pay $2.2 billion in damages for infringing on five of its patents to cover lost profits and reasonable royalty fees.
Apple damages expert and MIT-trained economist Chris Vellturo, in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif. said that the $2.2 billion figure which Apple is seeking from Samsung, is based on the sales of more than 37 million smartphones and tablets that Samsung sold in the US from August 2011 through December 2013.
The total amount of sales in dollars was kept confidential. The figures were based on studies conducted by John Hauser, a marketing professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Vellturo said Apple had to face the damage because Samsung’s devices with infringed patents picked up many first-time smartphone users.
“The competition for first-time buyers is particularly important, because once they buy, they are very likely to make their next purchase from the same manufacturer, and maybe other products and services too,” he said notes PCWorld.
Vellturo said that the damages claimed by the iPad maker is justified based on the scope and timing of the infringement, when the smartphone market was “in a profound state of change and growth because so many people are coming in and buying phones.”
“That had a dramatic effect on Apple, and the compensation is therefore substantial,” the lawyer said.
Vellturo also revealed that Apple is paying him $700 per hour for the case and that he has worked for more than 800 hours on this case, amounting to a fee of $560,000.
This is the second case on patent infringement between Apple and Samsung. In the earlier case, the juries decide in favor of Apple, asking Samsung to pay a $US1 billion in damages which was later trimmed down to $930 million.
