Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc., the world's top two smartphone makers embroiled in a high-stakes patent war, face a Seoul court ruling and a U.S. jury verdict this week that are expected to signal the future course of their fight for smartphone supremacy. While the two cases are unlikely to be the end of their litigation, watchers are keeping close tabs on how the court decisions on their respective home turfs will impact the patent war that has spread to four continents. In the tussle, dubbed the "patent war of the century," that kicked off in April 2011 with Apple's suit, the U.S. tech giant argues Samsung copied the design and features of its iPad and iPhone, while the Suwon, South Korea-based company argues its patents, including those for wireless technology, were violated. U.S. district court judge Lucy Koh, who presides over the case in California, had ordered executives of the two companies to reach an agreement but Samsung corporate strategy chief Choi Gee-sung and Apple chief executive Tim Cook failed to do so, despite three rounds of discussions. The two rivals made heated closing arguments in the U.S. on Tuesday. Harold McElhinny, who represents Apple, argued the South Korean firm knowingly copied the company's iPad and iPhone, while Samsung lawyer Charles Verhoeven said Samsung simply attempted to make easy-to-use products for its consumers. The Seoul court decision is expected to come ahead of the U.S. jury verdict. On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court is expected to hand down a delayed ruling over intellectual property infringement claims lodged by both companies in April and June of last year. The ruling in the case, in which Samsung countersued after Apple's April 2011 U.S. lawsuit, was initially planned for Aug. 10 but delayed due to "procedural reasons," raising suspicions the court deliberately postponed to make their decision after the U.S. case. While the market clout and money at stake in Seoul, 100 million won (US$88,472) for each firm, is much smaller than in the U.S. case, it is being closely being watched because it is on the home turf of Samsung, the country's biggest firm by market cap. On Saturday, Korean time, a jury of nine Silicon Valley residents is expected to deliver a final verdict in the U.S. case, followed by Koh's sentence, which could be a landmark decision in the patent dispute. Apple is seeking a sales ban on the disputed Samsung products in the U.S. in addition to $2.5 billion in damages, while Samsung argues that amount is exaggerated. The two smartphone makers control more than half of the global smartphone market. In the second quarter, Samsung's market share stood at 32.6 percent, followed by Apple with 16.9 percent, according to market researcher IDC. (Yonhap)