Legal

Samsung in Apple patent talks: Rock vs. hard place

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Whether or not you agree that Samsung copied the look and feel of Apple's products, it's now clear that Apple put the company in a difficult position when it first accused Samsung of copying.

In testimony here today, Boris Teksler, Apple's director of patent licensing and strategy, noted that while Apple initially approached the company to accuse it of copying its products and infringing on a multitude of its patents, Apple would not outright license any of those main patents to another company.

"We were clear we weren't offering a license … Read more

Key Samsung designer barred from testifying in Apple case

Samsung Electronics won't be able to use the testimony of one of its key designers in its case against Apple, according to a court document filed and signed by Federal Judge Lucy Koh yesterday.

Hyong Shin Park, who was the lead designer for Samsung's F700 phone, will be barred from testifying, as the court sided with Apple's request to keep her from the courtroom.

Park has said that Samsung's phones were inspired by a "bowl of water" and not the iPhone. Apple argued that her project, the F700, isn't in the list of … Read more

Frustrated judge orders Apple, Samsung counsel to meet today

The federal judge presiding over the Apple-Samsung patent infringement trial has apparently grown weary of the quibbling attorneys in the case and has ordered them to meet in person today to hammer out joint jury instructions.

"The Court is disappointed by the parties' respective reports regarding their meet and confer efforts on final jury instructions," U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said in her order today, according to the Foss Patents blog. "Lead trial counsel shall meet and confer in person today and file joint and disputed final jury instructions by Monday, August 13, 2012 at 8 … Read more

Apple hammers 'copycat' theme with more internal docs

Note: This story was originally published at 11:52 a.m. PT. It was republished at 8:17 p.m. PT with embedded documents, which were released in the evening.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Additional internal Samsung documents suggesting that the company looked to Apple for examples of how to enhance the features of its mobile devices were made public today.

During the testimony of Ravin Balakrishnan, a professor in the department of computer science at the University of Toronto, Apple brought out two of Samsung's internal usability studies -- one for a smartphone (see the first embedded document … Read more

Here's Apple's original 'copying' presentation to Samsung

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- As part of its spat with Samsung, Apple has entered into evidence the original slide deck it says it brought to top Samsung executives to say Samsung was ripping off its products.

The 67-page presentation -- embedded in full below -- was presented on August 4, 2010, according to Boris Teksler, Apple's director of patent licensing and strategy. Teksler took to the stand in court today to explain the beginnings of strife between the two companies, though he said he himself was not at the meeting.

Two months after the presentation was shown, Apple came … Read more

Apple exec: We told Samsung it was a copycat in 2010

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- We know where the fight between Apple and Samsung is right now, but how did it really begin? Apple laid out at least part of that story in court here today.

On the stand was Boris Teksler, Apple's director of patent licensing and strategy, who went over slides brought to a private meeting with Samsung on August 4, 2010, a few months after the release of the first iPad.

"Steve Jobs and Tim Cook called Samsung executives to meet with them," Teksler recalled.

The presentation, entitled "Samsung copying iPhone," detailed various … Read more

Apple features worth up to $100 to Samsung buyers, witness says

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Late afternoon testimony sent Samsung's lawyers scrambling to come up with a quick way to explain what was unquestionably the shortest time from any expert witness on the stand.

Apple called upon Massachusetts Institute of Technology marketing professor John Hauser to display the results of a survey claiming that Samsung consumers would pay anywhere from $39 to $100 for Apple's patented features -- the same ones Samsung has been accused of infringing in the trial between the two tech giants.

After what was mere minutes on the stand showing just a single slide with … Read more

Apple in the courtroom: 25 years of defending the crown jewels

The Apple-Samsung courtroom tussle is just the latest in a long line of legal battles for Apple. The company has an established history of taking competitors to court to protect the look and feel of its products. It's part of Apple's DNA. Steve Jobs always thought of Apple products as unique works of functional art with aesthetic virtues, wrapped in patents, copyrights, and licenses. He wasn't about to let anyone copy the crown jewels -- the user interface and hardware design concepts -- embodied in his creations.

The Macintosh, introduced in January 1984, was his first … Read more

Apple expert: How shoppers mistook Samsung gear for ours

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- To help quantify how consumers could confuse Samsung's devices with Apple's, Apple has whipped out another study of shoppers.

In U.S. District Court here today, Apple called on Kent Van Liere, a survey research expert, who polled mall visitors to determine whether certain Samsung smartphones and tablets would be associated or, worse, confused with Apple's iPhone and iPad.

Van Liere said that yes, that turned out to be the case with separate studies of both devices.

For smartphones it was Samsung's Galaxy Fascinate and Galaxy SII Epic 4G smartphones, along with … Read more

Samsung goes on the offense against Apple next week

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Apple today said it plans to run through the rest of its major witnesses perhaps as soon as the end of the day, after which it will hand control of the case over to Samsung.

Apple's attorneys said in court this morning that they would get through another handful of its witnesses, picking up the pace from earlier in the week, when the company focused strongly on just a few design and marketing experts.

So far Apple has brought out two of its key executives, marketing chief Phil Schiller and iOS chief Scott Forstall, as … Read more