Samsung has issued a private memo to staff expressing their disappointment with the verdict in the Apple lawsuit case, but vows to fight another day and contest the claims.

The internal message follows news the South Korean company will have to pay rivals Apple US$1bn damages after a Californian jury found Samsung guilty of ‘willful’ violations of a range of Apple patents.

Despite Samsung officials denying the existence of any such memo, the Wall Street Journal issued a copy of the message, originally published in Korean but later translated to English.

Here is the memo:

We initially proposed to negotiate with Apple instead of going to court, as they had been one of our most important customers. However, Apple pressed on with a lawsuit, and we have had little choice but to counter-sue, so that we can protect our company.

Certainly, we are very disappointed by the verdict at the US District Court for the Northern District of California (NDCA), and it is regrettable that the verdict has caused concern amongst our employees, as well as our loyal customers.

However, the judge’s final ruling remains, along with a number of other procedures. We will continue to do our utmost until our arguments have been accepted.

The NDCA verdict starkly contrasts decisions made by courts in a number of other countries, such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and Korea, which have previously ruled that we did not copy Apple’s designs.

These courts also recognised our arguments concerning our standards patents. History has shown there has yet to be a company that has won the hearts and minds of consumers and achieved continuous growth, when its primary means to competition has been the outright abuse of patent law, not the pursuit of innovation.

We trust that the consumers and the market will side with those who prioritise innovation over litigation, and we will prove this beyond doubt.

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