APPLE vs SAMSUNG: APPLE awarded $1bn

Apple has been awarded more than $1bn in damages by the US court after its rival smartphone and tablet manufacturer Samsung was found to have copied critical features of its iPhone and iPad.

In California today, a jury enters a third day of deliberations in the smartphone and tablet copyright battle between Apple and Samsung. But today in South Korea, a court facing the some of the same questions issued its ruling.

The South Korea court issued a split decision. A court in South Korea ruled today that Apple infringed on two of Samsung's technology patents in a couple of its products. And Samsung violated one of Apple's patents in one of its products.

The court said that Samsung did not copy Apple's iPhone design.

South Korea's Samsung won a home court ruling in its global smartphone battle against Apple on Friday when Seoul judges said the company didn't copy the look and feel of the U.S. company's iPhone, and that Apple infringed on Samsung's wireless technology.

The Seoul Central District Court ruling called for a partial ban on sales of products including iPads and smartphones from both companies, though the verdict did not affect the latest-generation phones — Apple's iPhone 4S or Samsung's Galaxy S3.

Samsung and Apple have been at war through the courts since April 2011, when Apple filed a suit in the US alleging that a number of Samsung smartphones and tablets used some of its patented technologies – such as the "rubber band" effect when scrolling a long list of items – and mimicked its "trade dress", the general cosmetic appearance of its iPhone and iPad, in a way that could confuse potential customers.

The jury of seven men and two women, all from California, included four who have worked for technology companies including chipmaker Intel and phone business AT&T, and two engineers. One member owns multiple Apple and Samsung products, according to CNet. Five are over 50; three were born outside the US – one in India and two in the Philippines.

The result came just hours after a South Korean court had ruled against both Apple and Samsung, deciding that they had each infringed each others' patents. Both were fined and told to take some of their products off the shelves in that country.