[JURIST] A jury in the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website] ruled [verdict form, PDF] Friday that Samsung Electronics [corporate website] violated several smartphone and tablet technology related patents held by Apple [corporate website], awarding $1.05 billion in damages. The dispute covers everything from the shape and design of the competing companies’ tablets and smartphones to the technology employed in the devices’ software interface. The jury sided with Apple, who asked for damages of $2.5 billion. They rejected claims made by Samsung [WP report] that Apple had violated a number of its patents. Samsung responded to the decision [The Verge report] by suggesting that patent law is easily manipulated so even the most basic design structures can be patented. Apple CEO Tim Cook released a statement [The Verge report] commending the jury and emphasizing the value his corporation places on innovation. In addition to damages, Apple has requested an injunction against Samsung prohibiting them from selling any of its products that are found to infringe on Apple’s patents. A hearing on the request for an injunction is scheduled for September 20. Samsung plans to appeal [CNN report] the verdict.

Earlier this month, a federal judge denied a motion [JURIST report] filed by Apple requesting that the court sanction Samsung for leaking evidence to the media, and declare an immediate victory in the patent infringement trial. In July, Judge Lucy Koh issued an injunction [JURIST report] in this case against Samsung to stop the sale of its Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the US. A week earlier the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had rejected [Bloomberg report; CAFC notice, PDF] Samsung’s appeal of the decision that remanded the case to the district court, giving Apple another opportunity to ban Samsung’s Galaxy products in the states after it partially reversed [JURIST report] the district court’s refusal to grant a temporary injunction for Apple against Samsung. Apple’s request for a temporary injunction was denied [JURIST report] by the district court in December. Apple filed a suit [JURIST report] against Samsung in April of last year alleging that Samsung committed ten patent infringements, two trademark violations and two trade dress violations by copying iPhone and iPad technology in making its “Galaxy” products.