Apple Vs Samsung – Companies Finally Square Off In California Court
Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
The case between Apple and Samsung finally kicks off today as jury selection begins in Judge Lucy Koh’s California District Court in San Jose.
The two companies have already been duking it out all over the world, lobbing accusations at one another in Australia, Germany and the UK.
Apple started this fight last April when they sued Samsung for patent violations involving their styling cues and UI choices. Samsung later returned the favor, countersuing Apple for infringing upon some very standard-essential patents involving the way a phone connects to a 3G network. While the standard, 3G patents are quite important, the most “interesting” part of these proceedings will likely be the accusations lobbied from Apple to Samsung about who copied whom.
If court filings leading up to this case are any indication, we could be in for a tumultuous ride.
For example, Samsung has not only complained about being referred to as the “defendant” in the case — preferring to be called a “claimant” — they’ve also asked to grab a seat nearest the jury whenever they present their case.
Apple has objected Samsung’s requests.
In addition to seeing some peculiar court behavior, we’ve also been able to see drawings, mockups and prototypes of Apple products in their early days of their infancy, insights that would normally require top-level security clearance at 1 Infinite Loop.
As a part of the deposition leading up to this day, Apple’s design wiz, Sir Jony Ive was asked to testify about some iPad drawings and mockups from 2002 to 2004.
These mockups bear an uncanny resemblance to the iPad of today, and were created as early as 2002, nearly 8 years before the first Apple tablet was released.
Early design models and prototypes of the iPhone have also been revealed, with Samsung accusing Apple of stealing designs from Sony.
Apple has refuted these claims, releasing images of their “purple” iPhone design which not only looks like an iPhone 4—despite the fact it was drawn in 2005— it’s also labeled “iPod” on the back, much like older prototypes of the iPad.
More than just pedantic complaints between two tech titans, this trial could help shape the future of mobile computing, including smartphones and tablets alike. Both companies have already sought injunctions against the other’s products to ban their sale in the States. Apple has successfully persuaded Judge Lucy Koh to place such a ban on Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphones and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets, a ban which was later reversed by a higher court. In another interesting move, Judge Koh has instructed Apple’s attorneys not to say anything about the ban to the jurors.
“In some sense the big part of the case is not Apple’s demands for damages but whether Samsung gets to sell its products,” said Mark Lemley, a Stanford Law School professor, speaking to the Associated Press.
The CEOs for both companies had even been ordered to meet outside of court in attempts to reach a settlement before the trial was set to start, though they were unable to come to any agreements.
A jury of ten will now be chosen to hear cases from both companies over the next 4 weeks and must reach a unanimous decision for either company to claim victory.
redOrbit.com
offers Science, Space, Technology, Health news, videos, images and
reference information. For the latest science news, space news,
technology news, health news visit redOrbit.com frequently. Learn
something new every day.”
2012-07-30 23:45:13
Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1112665790/apple-vs-samsung-begins-today-in-california/
Source:
