20120827-082803.jpgArticle of the day link: WIN.

After less than 3 days, the jury came back with some conclusions. And those conclusions were exclusively in favour of the iPhone, ruling that six of the seven patents under dispute were violated. However, the jury only awarded half of the original damages sought by Apple.

The next question on everyone’s mind is whether the trial judge, Lucy Koh, will extend the ban on Samsung products. Which would, you know, be hectic. A quick snapshot of the Korean company’s stock price as it traded this morning:

Like a rock. And not in a diamond kind of way.

But I will be honest, in spite of my willingness to be on Apple’s side in any way possible and on any point available, I am concerned by the whole jury aspect of this.

This was a nine-person jury. One of the panel members was a construction worker. Another wears flip-flops and has a job description of “plays video games”. And here they are, casting deciding votes after four weeks of lawyering, on a matter that explores the intricacies of US and international intellectual property law, which has the ability to change the world of smartphones. And affect two multi-billion dollar companies. And many many pension funds with shareholdings in one or other or both.

Does that really feel like justice?

Luckily, the foreman described the jury deliberations as “meticulous“. And then told the press that the entire case hinged on a Google email telling the Samsung folk to make the design look less like an iPhone*. He also said that the jury worked through coffee breaks and lunch breaks, and argued for an hour longer than scheduled on two of the three days.

The “67 year old San Jose resident” sounds like he’s really enjoying the media attention, if I could just point that out. He goes on and on and on about “a lightbulb that went off” in his head, and “I thought I need to do this for all of them” and “we threw things out that didn’t need to be considered”.

Dear Apple. It sounds a bit like a hollow victory for me. That said – how hollow can a $1 billion payout really be?

I want more hollow victories.

*Letting everything rest on a Google mail seems a little not-very-meticulous to me. And Lucy Koh dropped the payout by $2million on “inconsistencies” in the jury’s findings…