Samsung could face $2.5bn damages bill if Apple proves it copied 'iPhone, iPad design'

London, July 30 (ANI): Samsung is likely to be hit with a damages bill of 2.5 billion dollars if rival tech giant Apple can prove that the Korean mobile maker copied the technology of its iconic iPhone and iPad.

The two tech giants are set to clash in court in California in what has been labelled "the patent trial of the century".

A nine-person jury will decide whether Samsung "slavishly" copied Apple's sleek designs, and they will also decide whether Apple unlawfully used Samsung's 3G technology.

According to The Telegraph, Samsung, which has emerged as Apple's strongest, could now face a large compensation bill, a heavy blow to its reputation and a ban in the US on sales of some of its best-selling products.

Documents released ahead of the trial show that Apple plans to turn Samsung's own words against it.

"Samsung's documents show the similarity of Samsung's products is no accident or, as Samsung would have it, a 'natural evolution'," Apple's lawyers claim.

"Rather, it results from Samsung's deliberate plan to free-ride on the iPhone's and iPad's extraordinary success by copying their iconic designs and intuitive user interface. Apple will rely on Samsung's own documents, which tell an unambiguous story," they added.

The documents also include communications from Google, which told Samsung its tablets looked "too similar" to the iPad.

According to the paper, Samsung's army of lawyers will counter-claim that it had been working on designs that could be seen as similar to the iPhone as long ago as 2006, before Apple introduced its revolutionary device. (ANI)