Case
Apple v. Samsung Trial (May 2014)
In a patent infringement case widely covered in major media outlets, Analysis Group and academic affiliates Judith Chevalier of the Yale School of Management, Tülin Erdem of the NYU Stern School of Business, George Foster of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and David Reibstein of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School were retained by Samsung Electronics and its counsel, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, to provide consulting and expert witness services. The affiliates' testimony addressed consumer demand for smartphones and tablets, the role played by the functionalities associated with Apple's patents, and the appropriate damages remedy used in the dispute. After finding infringement, a San Jose, California jury ordered Samsung to pay $119.6 million in damages, far short of the $2.2 billion sought by Apple.
Professor Chevalier testified that the functionalities associated with Apple's patents had no discernible impact on consumer demand for Samsung's smartphones and tablets, and determined that reasonable royalties were an appropriate remedy. Professor Erdem evaluated market research conducted by each company, as well as her own analysis of the factors that consumers consider, and determined that smartphone and tablet customers typically base their purchase decisions on major product features and not minor features. Professor Reibstein assessed a conjoint analysis presented on behalf of Apple and determined that it was not suitable to evaluate the extent to which Apple's patented functionalities may influence marketplace outcomes because the analysis failed to account for the role of major product features, consumer awareness of patented features, and whether survey respondents adequately understood the functionalities associated with the patents. Professor Foster analyzed the strategies employed by leading smartphone manufacturers that had the greatest impact on marketplace outcomes.
Managing Principals T. Christopher Borek and Justin McLean led the Analysis Group case team, which included Chairman Martha Samuelson; Managing Principals Lisa Pinheiro and Marc Van Audenrode; Principals Jimmy Royer and Robert Vigil; and Vice Presidents John Browning, Peter Hess, and Peter Simon.
Read more about Professor Chevalier's involvement
Read more about Professor Erdem's involvement
Meet Our People
Marc Van Audenrode*
Managing Principal*Dr. Van Audenrode is an expert in data analysis and econometrics, labor economics, antitrust and competition policy, and public economics. He has consulted to clients - including law firms and government agencies - in Canada, the US, and Europe. Dr. Van Audenrode’s work includes developing a methodology to value desktop software; he also developed expertise valuing goods as varied as restaurant franchises, executive stock options, or smartphone features. His recent work in public economics includes evaluating the economic rent from hydroelectricity to the Canadian economy and the value of logging rights on the ancestral territory of a Canadian First Nation. In the area of labor economics, his work has included filing an expert report assessing fair compensation for Quebec provincial judges and Quebec prosecutors and advising Quebec’s commission on pay equity. Dr. Van Audenrode has filed expert reports in courts in the US, Canada, Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, and has testified in Canada and the US. He recently filed a report with the Amsterdam Court of Appeal in support of the settlement reached between Ageas and claimant organizations in the Fortis case, the largest settlement ever reached through the Dutch Collective Settlement Act (WCAM). Dr. Van Audenrode’s scientific research and articles have been published in numerous peer-reviewed academic journals and trade journals. He is a coauthor of the book The Mutual Fund Industry: Competition and Investor Welfare, and is a frequent presenter at industry and academic conferences.
*Marc Van Audenrode srl