Thursday, November 01, 2012, 05:37 pm

Apple's Phil Schiller to be questioned by Samsung in post-trial deposition

By Mikey Campbell

In an order filed on Thursday, it was revealed that Samsung will be able to question Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller for up to three hours, with the deposition expected to cover matters associated with Apple's request to ban products a jury found to be in violation of its patents.

The order, first reported by The Verge, is meant to offer clarity on comments made by Schiller in his support of the Samsung product ban, some of which were "new or in conflict with his testimony at trial," the Korean company claims.


Samsung took issue with a number of assertions presented by Schiller, especially those relating to the Galaxy product lineup, which the Apple executive believes is a move in unified branding.

On Monday, the court granted Apple's own request to depose four expert witnesses as it seeks an injunction, however the order also allowed Samsung's counter motion to question three witnesses of their own, including Phil Schiller.

The court GRANTS Apple’s motion for leave to file a reply and also considers Samsung’s opposition to that motion. Having considered the numerous papers presented, the court GRANTS Apple’s underlying motion and also orders Apple to produce its experts for Samsung to depose.

A subsequent Apple motion on Tuesday sought to "clarify" the court's order by suggesting Schiller was not an expert witness and should therefore be exempt from deposition proceedings. Apparently Apple v. Samsung Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal took umbrage with Apple's attempt to oppose the court's Monday ruling, resulting in Thursday's tersely-worded order.

Schiller's deposition is to take place no later than Nov. 5 and will last for no more than three hours.