Apple vs. SamsungWhile Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung prepare to meet for a court-ordered negotiation summit in San Francisco on May 21, the lawyers for each company continue to prepare for a courtroom showdown. At this stage in the game, the trial is set for July 30, and according to FOSS Patents both legal teams are peppering the court with motions and filings to position their respective companies for the legal battle.
Apple, for example, is preparing to ask the court to obscure "the Samsung logo on the court's video display for jurors" in an effort to ensure that no one subconsciously links their adversary with undue importance as the office monitor supplier to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Apple also may ask the court to exclude any "argument or evidence regarding statements attributed to Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson" as well as "any reference to working conditions in China." Apparently talking about Steve Jobs' willingness to go to "thermonuclear war" against Android, or discussing the drama surrounding labor issues at Foxconn might hurt Apple's position in the eyes of the jury -- provided they are not too busy trying to figure out who manufactured the courtroom monitors.
Whew. Now we can have a fair trial.
Not to be outdone, Samsung is prepped to make sure that the courtroom doesn't become a breeding ground for more Apple fanboys by asking the court to exclude "Apple related blogs" as well as "articles by non-expert newspaper reporters, regarding any assessment of Apple and Samsung and/or their products." Additionally, Samsung is considering a request to strike the "opinions and testimony of Henry Urbach, Apple's expert on the alleged cultural significance of Apple" and the "opinions of Sanjay Sood, Apple's expert on consumer decision making." Urbach, a former gallery owner as well as the past curator of architecture and design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, has stated that Apple products are "beautiful and stunning" and may possibly achieve a god-like status of "fetish," concepts that Samsung feels would be "not helpful to the jury." So, according to Samsung, the influential power of Apple bloggers can be equated with noted industry experts like Urbach and Sood with regard to swaying the hearts and minds of an objective jury (many of whom probably have iPhones, statistically speaking). Who knew?
Apple's legal team may have to ratchet back the aggressive tactics in their lawsuit against Motorola, or face some penalties. Last week, rock-star Judge Richard A. Posner, author of nearly 40 books on law and economics and the most cited legal scholar of the 20th century, reprimanded Apple in court for effectively wasting his time with their courtroom antics.
According to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, Apple originally filed a motion to block Motorola from deposing a specific expert, and the motion was denied. Then Apple apparently refiled the motion, this time adding information pertaining to the health of the expert's wife, and that a situation there would prevent the expert from testifying at the scheduled June 1 trial.
Yeah. That "strenuously object" thing didn't work too well for us, either.
Judge Posner, clearly annoyed, denied the motion again, but this time added that he has had his "fill of frivolous filings by Apple" and that if Apple did it again, he would make them gain pre-approval before submitting any more motions. This pre-approval, called a précis letter is not uncommon; however in this case, the extra-step would only be required from Apple, which would be a significant advantage to Motorola. Judge Posner -- keeping it real, Judge Judy style.
Adrian writes the weekly Law & Apple column for MacLife.com. Follow him on Twitter, or subscribe to him on Facebook.
