Analysts and industry watchers here shrugged off the latest jury decision on the patent dispute between Samsung Electronics and Apple, with some even calling the suit “meaningless.”

“I don’t think there is much meaning in the legal dispute between the two. Especially for Samsung, the impact of the case will likely be small as it is already the No. 1 smartphone maker in the world, raking in more than 20 trillion won ($18.8 billion) in operating profit per year,” said Park Hyun, an analyst at Dongyang Securities.

“The amount of the award in damages is not much, and it could further drop since Samsung plans to seek an appeal,” he added.

The jury of six women and two men in California ordered Samsung to pay Apple $290 million for infringing Apple’s patents for smartphone features and design. The trial on Thursday was held to determine how much Samsung should pay Apple for violating the patents after judge Lucy Koh of the Federal District Court for Northern California ruled in March that the original amount of $1 billion charged against Samsung was miscalculated.

With the $290 million, the total amount that Samsung owes to the California-based tech giant now stands at $930 million.

“As the verdict did not factor in the decision of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that invalidated the patent of the ‘pinch-to-zoom,’ we will proceed to file a motion for judgment as a matter of law,” said a Samsung official in Seoul, adding that the firm would file an appeal.

He also confirmed that Samsung has set aside reserves for the compensation, but declined to comment on the exact amount.

“There is still a long way to go before the final ruling comes out,” he said. “We will continuously try to shed the ‘copycat’ image during the upcoming trials.”

Nam Dae-jong, an analyst from Hana Daetoo Securities, noted that Samsung is said to have set aside 70 percent of the compensation. “Furthermore, Samsung has secured and applied new technologies on its smartphones to dodge the patent issues,” he said.

Another market watcher cautioned, however, that “the long-running legal fight could hurt the reputation of both the Korean firm and the U.S. firm,” adding that for Samsung, it would be unable to shake off the claim that it stole Apple’s designs.

With Samsung expected to ask the U.S. court to reexamine the jury verdict, more twists and turns for the world’s two largest tech behemoths are likely down the road, industry watchers said.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)