U.S Judge Lucy Koh, who is presiding over two California patent cases involving Apple and Samsung including post trial motions for the landmark Apple v. Samsung jury trial, may put the second suit on hold until an appeals court comes to a decision on the first.
According to in court reports from Reuters, Judge Koh asked counsel for both parties if an upcoming utility patent suit should be suspended until after an appeal regarding the Apple v. Samsung verdict has been reached. The appeal pertains to the jurist's decision to deny Apple's request to ban certain Samsung handsets following the Apple v. Samsung jury trial.
Due to the appeals court's schedule, a ruling is not expected until at least September, while the utility patent suit is currently slated to begin in March 2014.
Judge Koh suggested that the two parties' legal struggle could cover both California lawsuits.
"I just don't know if we really need two cases on this," Judge Koh said.
In response, Apple attorney William Lee argued that both cases should proceed as planned, noting that different patents have been asserted in each suit. Victoria Maroulis, Samsung's counsel, disagreed, claiming that "overlap" between the two should be enough to suspend the second complaint.
The parties were ordered to mull over Judge Koh's suggestion and give their official decisions by March 7.