SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A lawyer for Apple said Tuesday that Samsung was having a "crisis of design" after the launch of the iPhone, and executives with the South Korean company were determined to cash in on the success of the revolutionary device.
The claim came during closing arguments at the multibillion-dollar patent trial involving the world's biggest smartphone companies, after last-minute talks between chief executives failed to resolve the dispute.
Apple argues that Samsung Electronics Co. should pay the Cupertino-based company $2.5 billion for ripping off its iPhone and iPad technology.
Apple's lead attorney, Harold McElhinny, told jurors Tuesday that Apple confronted Samsung about the alleged copying before filing its lawsuit last year.
"Instead of doing the right thing, Samsung decided to gin up claims of its own," McElhinny said of Samsung's counter claim seeking $399 million from Apple for allegedly using Samsung technology in making the iconic iPhone and iPad.
Apple is also demanding that Samsung pull its most popular cellphones and computer tablets from the U.S. market.
Lawyers for Samsung were expected to deliver their closing arguments later in one of the biggest technology disputes in history.
The jury of nine men and women could start deliberations on Wednesday after hearing three weeks of testimony from technology experts, patent professionals and company executives.
From the beginning, legal experts and Wall Street analysts have viewed Samsung as the underdog. To begin with, Apples headquarters is a mere 10 miles from the courthouse, and jurors were picked from the heart of Silicon Valley where the company's late founder Steve Jobs is a revered technological pioneer.
While the legal and technological issues may be complex, patent expert Alexander I. Poltorak says the case will likely boil down to whether jurors believe Samsung's products at issue look and feel almost identical to Apple's iPhone and iPad.