A jury returned a swift verdict in the Apple/Samsung patent case today, finding that Samsung deliberately copied Apple’s design and willfully infringed on many of Apple’s patents. When all was said and done, Apple was awarded over $1,000,000,000 in damages.

After only 3 days of deliberation, the jury ruled that Samsung copied the design of the  iPhone and iPad when developing their line of smartphones that includes their top seller, the Galaxy S2 as well as their various Galaxy tablets.

Whether or not this will lead to a suspension of sales of Samsung’s products, and how much the technology giant will actually pay to Apple remains to be seen, as a long and drawn out appeals process is likely to ensue from this, and it will be awhile before it is finally clear what the actual results of this ruling will look like.

More importantly, this opens up the discussion of what this mean for Google and their Android operating system — what many people have suggested this lawsuit was actually all about in the first place.  Google has obviously taken notice, as evidenced by their recent purchase of Motorola to bolster their own patent portfolio.

Needless to say, this is only the first salvo in what looks to be a long and very expensive war between the world’s two mobile juggernauts.