Apple has a lot more money to battle this one out, besides I am sure their legal department is working on an answer to every question.
I think this will hurt Apple, but maybe just a bit I think overall there are way too many people who support them, also they could win the case by just sending a bumper to everyone who purchased an iPhone and solve the whole case, either way this will be a long drawn out issue.
However I do believe they knew about this issue, because the bumpers happen to fit just perfectly where the problem lies, so it will be interesting to see how this pans out.