Apple Estimates $2.52 Billion Damages in Samsung Battle

By Staff Reporter | Jul 24, 2012 12:19 PM EDT

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(Reuters) - Apple Inc claims it is entitled to $2.525 billion of damages in its high-stakes battle against Samsung Electronics Co over patents for technology used in smartphones and tablets, such as the iPhone and iPad.

According to a partially redacted filing on Tuesday with a federal court in San Jose, California, Apple believes Samsung owes "substantial monetary damages" because the Korean company illegally "chose to compete by copying Apple."

Apple said this allowed Samsung to overtake it as the world's largest maker of smartphones, and reap "billions of dollars in profits" while costing Apple $500 million of profit.

It said damages, including reasonable royalty damages, reach "a combined total of $2.525 billion." Apple said it also plans to seek a permanent injunction to stop future violations.

Samsung countered Apple's allegations in a filing 13 minutes later, accusing the Cupertino, California-based company of trying "to stifle legitimate competition and limit consumer choice to maintain its historically exorbitant profits."

It said Apple, in fact, should pay for the use of Samsung's patented technology, "without which Apple could not have become a successful participant in the mobile telecommunications industry."

The world's largest consumer electronics companies are scheduled to go to a jury trial on July 30 before U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh.

Their dispute is part of a worldwide legal battle over the alleged theft of technology used in smartphones and tablets, including those powered by Google Inc's Android, which Samsung uses in its most popular devices.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and top Samsung executives last week participated in court-supervised mediation to try to resolve the case but a resolution appeared to be unlikely, people familiar with the matter said.

The companies also disagreed on the value of the disputed patents, one of the people said.

In morning trading, Apple shares rose $4.22 to $608.05 on the Nasdaq.

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