Court issues mixed verdict in Apple-Samsung trial

Jurors on Friday ordered Samsung to pay just a fraction of the big-money damages sought by Apple in a high-stakes Silicon Valley case over smartphone patents.

Jurors found that Samsung violated some patents and ruled that the South Korean consumer electronics giant should pay $119.6 million in damages.

The jury also found credence in counter-claims by Samsung and said in its verdict that Apple should pay its rival $158,400 in damages.

Apple's legal team had urged jurors to order the South Korean electronics giant to pay more than $2 billion in damages for flagrantly copying iPhone features.

During the month-long trial in a San Jose, California, federal court, Apple accused Samsung of violating patents on smartphone features including universal search, while Samsung denied wrongdoing.

Friday's verdict marked a big loss for the iPhone maker. Apple and Samsung have been litigating around the world for three years. Jurors awarded the iPhone maker about $930 million after a 2012 trial in San Jose, California, but Apple failed to persuade U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh to issue a permanent injunction against the sale of Samsung phones.

The current case involves five Apple patents that were not in the 2012 trial and that cover iPhone features like slide to unlock and search technology. Apple is again seeking to ban sales of several Samsung phones, including the Galaxy S III, and just over $2 billion in damages.

Samsung also claims that Apple violated two patents on streaming video. It is seeking to ban the iPhone 5, and asserted a $6 million damages claim.

It will be up to Judge Koh to decide if a sales ban is warranted.

Meanwhile, Samsung lawyers maintained that the legal onslaught is the result of a "holy war" Apple declared on Google-made Android software used to power smartphones.

In August 2012, a separate jury in the same court decided that Samsung should pay Apple $1.049 billion in damages for illegally copying iPhone and iPad features, in one of the biggest patent cases in decades.

The damage award was later trimmed to $929 million and is being appealed.

Al Jazeera and wire services