We are under two weeks away from the start of the heavyweight courtroom battle between Apples and Samsung, and the pre-trial shenanigans are getting intense. Both companies are scrambling and trying to control how things are described in the courtroom, as well as what the public is allowed to hear.
Join us for another week of Law & Apple.
Last Friday, both Apple and Samsung made two joint filings: the first contained the jury instructions both companies could agree on, but the second contained 361 pages of jury instructions they could not agree on. Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents read through the documents and provided a great analysis that basically suggests the following: Apple is trying to keep things as simple as possible while Samsung is trying to keep things as complicated as possible.
As much as it seems these tactics are mirroring the design aesthetics of each company, they actually suggest a deeper realization of where this trial is headed. To date, the developments in this case have given us every reason to expect a significant win for Cupertino. Based on the way each company is trying to shape the jury instructions, it would seem both companies are expecting that outcome as well.
Both Samsung and Apple are asserting technical patents in this case, and those can by tricky to explain easily to a jury. Samsung, however, is asserting twice as many technical patens as Apple, and yet Samsung's proposed instructions are fighting for particularly complicated and confusing rules controlling how those patents will be explained to the jury. That only makes sense if your best hope is to completely overwhelm the courtroom and hope for a complete dismissal of everything. Because, you know, you probably don't stand a chance otherwise.
Mueller wrote,"Not only are Samsung's proposals very defensive, but many of its jury instructions reflect a desire to muddy the water and make things difficult to understand, and very confusing, for the jury."
It remains for Judge Lucy Koh to decide the final jury instructions; she can take into consideration what both companies have suggested, or she can ignore them and create her own instructions. To date, Judge Koh has not bought any of Samsung's legal maneuverings of desperation, and we would not expect her to go along with this one, either.
Just yesterday Judge Koh shot down proposals by both companies to keep pretty much the entire trial a giant secret. CNET reports that Judge rejected attempts by both Apple and Samsung to keep portions of the upcoming courtroom battle from being made public, and gave both parties one week to refile requests.
And all of this is totally secret. And this stuff, too. All secrets.
Judge Koh stated that "it appears that the parties have overdesignated confidential documents and are seeking to seal information that is not truly sealable" and that "Only documents of exceptionally sensitive information that truly deserve protection will be allowed to be redacted or kept from the public."
Thanks Judge Koh! Based on the way this case has developed so far, we can't wait to hear the verdict on July 30.
Adrian writes the weekly Law & Apple column and the occasional feature story for MacLife.com. Follow him on Twitter, or subscribe to him on Facebook.
