Mikey Campbell
A U.S. federal judge on Thursday ordered Apple and Samsung to pare down their respective cases in a patent suit slated to start in 2014, saying that both parties should know what assertions are strongest after battling in court for over a year.
According to an in-court report from Bloomberg, Judge Lucy Koh told Apple and Samsung counsel to "focus and streamline" their cases, limiting them to 25 patent claims and 25 products.
“We’ll keep narrowing and narrowing,†Judge Koh said. “You’ve already been litigating this thing for a year; you must know something about what’s your best case.â€
The lawsuit, which began as a February 2012 Apple complaint against the Samsung-built Galaxy Nexus, has grown to encompass a variety of alleged infringing devices, including the flagship iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III handsets. In a filing last week, Apple added Samsung's Galaxy Note line to its case, while the Korean company asserted three patents against "all generations" of the iPhone and iPad.
In mid-February, Judge Koh announced that she was considering putting a hold on the case until an appeals court handed down a ruling pertaining to the Apple v. Samsung court trial. The appeal was lodged by Apple following the company's unsuccessful bid to ban certain Samsung handsets after winning a landmark $1.05 billion verdict in August. Apple is pushing for the lawsuit to move forward, and notes there is no overlap with jury trial, an important consideration if the case is to proceed. Samsung, however, disagrees, claiming that overlap is substantial enough to put a hold on the second suit.
Both parties have until March 7 to submit official statements regarding the matter before Judge Koh makes a decision either way.
If the Galaxy Nexus case is not suspended, proceedings are scheduled to kick off in March 2014.
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12 Comments
If she pushes it too far, it opens it up for appeal. Apple has already won a billion dollar suit - while Samsung keeps losing most of its suits. Clearly, Apple's case is stronger - so artificially limiting them to the same number of issues could work against justice.
Apple has already won a billion dollar suit…
"But it's not over yet!" they cry. And here comes KD…
Enough of Judge Judy already. Please. She will delay and delay and delay this case until smartphones are yesterday's tech. Check back in 2018 ok?
If she pushes it too far, it opens it up for appeal.
Apple has already won a billion dollar suit - while Samsung keeps losing most of its suits. Clearly, Apple's case is stronger - so artificially limiting them to the same number of issues could work against justice.
I can see why she wants to limit patents. A jury would find it difficult if they had to decide a case with a large number of tehnical issues, so limiting makes for a more streamlined trial. Although this might help Samsung (since they have fewer patents), what about the next case Apple files (and I'm sure it's coming)? Samsung would "run out" of patents if they had additional cases where Apple would still have more to draw upon.
Jobs said they had over 200 patents on the iPhone when it launched. Eventually Samsungs tank is going to be empty and then Apple will have a huge advantage.
"And here comes KD…
My only comment right now is that it doesn't sound very narrow.
They're only using about eight patents each. So that's about three claims per patent. Only takes one claim to prove infringement.
Btw, for those who are interested, many of the documents are available here:
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/5:2012cv00630/251113/