Apple Wins Patent Battle With Samsung, But Is Losing The War

The legal front in the smartphone wars between Apple and Samsung picked up steam yesterday after a jury awarded both sides some cash in a patent infringement fight.

The jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple $119.6 million in damages, far short of the $2.2 billion Apple had been seeking, and less than the $930 million Apple was awarded in an earlier trial in the same courtroom.The same jury ruled Friday that Apple infringed on one Samsung patent and awarded Samsung $158,400.

So who actually won? There are many interpretations. The first is that Apple did. In court. Yesterday.

However, Apple probably spent nearly as much loot waging the case against Samsung, which runs on Google software, than it was ultimately awarded by the courts. Also, looking at the bigger picture, the lawsuit was intended to stem the momentum of Apple's smartphone foes. Given the huge amount that Apple sought as well as a sales injunction, which was denied, one legal expert saw Samsung as the winner here...