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A jury ruling in Apple’s favour over Samsung in the US District Court earlier this week could have a chilling effect on rivals, leaving them scrambling for alternatives to common touch-screen gestures used in many smartphones today.

The awarded $1.05 billion has affected Samsung’s stock price, and may limit its access to the coveted US marketplace. While Samsung will appeal, Apple indicated it will seek an injunction against the Korean tech giant to further its market share.

Samsung will not suffer alone.

This post was contributed by Matthew Marquardt, Partner, Norton Rose Canada

Last week, apparently by accident, Motorola Mobility leaked specs and images of its newest mobile device, the Atrix HD. This is the first new smartphone announced by Motorola since Google bought the company in May.

While the device bears a strong family resemblance to earlier Motorola products, many observers expect, unsurprisingly, that future products will bear a more apparent Google stamp. Google has been working its way into the smartphone market since 2005 when it purchased Android for $50 million.

How does Google, which started as an Internet search engine, end up calling the shots for the designs of one of the world’s best-known makers of mobile devices? By paying $12.5 billion for the privilege.

Google smartphone held in hand