In the aftermath of Apple's billion dollar courtroom win against Samsung last week, many people are wondering just what this means for the future of the smartphone. Some stores are already reporting a massive dropoff in Android device sales since the ruling.

From Samsung's perspective, consumers will suffer because manufacturers won't be able to design phones without Cupertino lawyers sniffing around.

However, from Apple's point of view, consumers will now be treated to more innovative designs rather than copycat tablets and smartphones. Ultimately, new designs and innovations benefit everyone.

Either way, there is no question that this epic legal battle will have to be paid for and the costs are significant. The courts ruled in Apple's favor, charging Samsung with over $1 billion in damages. Ouch, right? Okay, but we're not done yet. Because the abuses were so willful, the judge can triple that award for Apple. In fact, a hearing was just set for December 6 where Judge Koh will decide that very issue.

Meanwhile, the gavel strikes from this case are echoing around the world. Apple has already soundly defeated Samsung in Italy, France, and three times in Germany, with four more cases to go to trial in Germany this fall. Samsung has only managed to eke out a victory on its home court in Korea, and now with this most significant and crushing decision in California other Android manufacturers are noticing.

Remember that huge bucket of patents Google bought for $12.5 billion when they acquired the remains of Motorola Mobility? The ones that were supposed to provide Android leverage against Apple? Forget about it. Since this ruling, Motorola has just licensed those patents to Apple. As Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents puts it, "It appears that Google (Motorola) cracked under pressure."

This didn't really work out. At all.

And now Apple, aside from asking Judge Koh to, you know, increase the damages check to $3 billion, can choose to use this ruling to get an injunction against Samsung products until they modify the devices to stop using Apple technology. Just a few days ago, Cupertino choose to ask the court to do exactly that. On Monday, Apple asked the U.S. Court to block several Samsung devices, including the Galaxy S 4G, the Galaxy S2 for AT&T, the Galaxy S2 for Skyrocket, the Galaxy S2 for T-Mobile, the Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, the Galaxy S Showcase, the Droid Charge and the Galaxy Prevail.

So, Samsung stands to lose up to $3 billion dollars, will have to scramble to modify a whole crew of devices to keep them on the store shelves in the U.S., and is seeing courts around the world agree with the late Steve Jobs that Android is stolen goods. Was it worth it? Well, maybe it was.

Farhad Manjoo, a staff write at Slate and on-air contributor to NPR on technology, makes a strong argument that, in this case, Samsung proved that copying works.

I knew it.

Sure, Samsung may have to write a check for $3 billion, but according to Manjoo, in the period where their copycat devices were flooding the market, they made over $25 billion in handset profits. That is a pretty healthy margin.

Also, and more to the point, Samsung was able to stop Apple from pulling an iPod-esque move on the smartphone market. Big players like Nokia and Microsoft scoffed at Apple when the iPhone came out, claiming Cupertino would never be able to do anything significant in the mobile market -- just as many mocked Apple when the iPod came out, claiming Apple was a later player to the MP3 player space. Well, by the time everyone realized what Apple created with the iPod, it was too late to catch up, and Cupertino redefined the way we consume, and create, music. And the iPhone was on the same track.

When the iPhone exploded onto the scene, it quickly became clear that Apple had created a game-changing beast once again, and Cupertino was about to run the table. Samsung, and every other device manufacturer, was faced with three options: Ignore, out-innovate, or copy Apple.

Samsung chose door number three, and by doing so, kept Apple from owning the smartphone space the way that it owned portable media player space. Expensive decision? Yes. Worth it? From Samsung's perspective, totally.

Adrian writes the weekly Law & Apple column and the occasional feature story for MacLife.com. Follow him on Twitter, or subscribe to him on Facebook.