Judge denies Apple motion to reschedule post-trial decisions

Apple v. Samsung presiding Judge Lucy Koh on Thursday issued an order denying Apple's request to rearrange the schedule of post-trial hearings, allowing a hearing on Samsung's motion to dissolve the existing Galaxy Tab ban to come before a decision on motions to overrule the jury's decision.

After the landmark Apple v. Samsung decision was handed down, both parties filed post-trial motions. Apple is looking for a permanent sales ban on eight Samsung devices, while the South Korean electronics giant is requesting to dissolve an existing preliminary injunction against its Galaxy Tab 10.1.

In the interest of expediency, Judge Koh last week consolidated Apple's permanent injunction motion, initially scheduled for Sept. 20, with so-called "Rule 50" motions to overrule the jury's decision, scheduling the hearing for Dec. 6. Meanwhile, Samsung's motion to dissolve was inserted into the Sept. 20 date, causing what Apple said was asymmetry in the post-trial timeline as the dissolving of the Galaxy Tab injunction can possibly be overturned with a favorable Rule 50 decision.

Apple's request attempted to align the permanent sales ban hearing with the motion to dissolve, both of which would be heard on the Dec. 6 court date.

Judge Koh explains that the scope of Apple's motion for a sales ban is broader than Samsung's request, saying, "[T]he Court finds good cause for setting different briefing and hearing schedules for the parties’ respective injunction-related motions."

From Thursday's order:

Whereas Samsung’s motion to dissolve the June 26, 2012 preliminary injunction involves review of an injunction against a single product (the Galaxy Tab 10.1) based on alleged infringement of a single Apple patent (the D’889 Patent), […] Apple’s proposed motion for a post-trial, pre-JMOL preliminary injunction would seek to enjoin eight different Samsung products based on the jury’s finding of infringement across seven different intellectual property rights.

Wrapping up the order, Judge Koh modified the schedule of the Court's post-trial proceedings, extending Apple's opposition filing due date to Sept. 10, while Samsung's reply is now expected by Sept. 14.