Judge Orders Apple and Samsung to Limit Claims in Patent Case
Orange County – Apple and Samsung have a scheduled trial date of July 30, 2012 in a patent and trademark lawsuit involving smartphone and tablet products. However, a Judge has threatened to postpone the trial if the two giants do not minimize their claims against each other.
In an order given the first week of May, Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California stated “I think that’s cruel and unusual punishment to a jury, so I’m not willing to do it. If you’re going to trial in July, this is not going to be acceptable.”
In April 2011, Apple initially filed a complaint claiming that Samsung had violated many of the patents and trademarks associated with the iPad tablet and iPhone smartphone. The South Korean company Samsung fired back with a counterclaim that stated Apple was likewise infringing on several of its patent and trademarks. Samsung also took it a step further and filed lawsuits against Apple in South Korea, Japan, and Germany. Not to be outdone, Apple fired back at Samsung in February 2012 alleging that Samsung was infringing on a whole new set of patents and trademarks since the original complaint was filed in April 2011.
This is Judge Koh’s second attempt to get both companies to review and minimize the claims at issue. Although both companies have stated that they are willing to cooperate, the case stands with claims of infringement on 16 patents and 11 trademarks, with a total of 37 products accused of violations.
Apple’s patent attorney stated “We will do whatever we need to do to hold the trial date.” Meanwhile, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, stated “I would highly prefer to settle versus battle … we just want people to invent their own stuff.”