We have already covered a very short portion of Samsung’s side of the story, which at this point covers a significant amount of Prior Art and also is building the case that Apple borrows from others to build their devices. Now some will say that this only Samsung trying to use an “Apple did it too” defense, but in reality it is a continuation of their efforts to show that Apple should never have been granted the patents in the first place. The defense is also key in showing that Apple has stolen from others to build their devices including key technology that they are not paying for. It is a brilliant strategy that blended well with the way Apple presented their own testimony. In many cases Samsung can use parts of Apple’s won claims to show their side and convince the jury to find for them.
Why the sudden request for peace talks? Well if you take Judge Koh’s word it is because “If you all had wanted is to raise awareness that you have IP on these devices, messages delivered,” Which was followed by. “In many respects, mission accomplished. It’s time for peace. If you could have your CEOs have one last conversation, I’d appreciate it”.
She claims there is danger for both sides now if the jury is allowed to decide on this. If this is truly the case then why did she allow for preliminary injunctions, deny Samsung’s point by point rebuttal to Apple’s charges and then refuse to review the prior art that Samsung presented? While I would certainly agree there is danger here it is considerably higher for Apple than Samsung even with more time left for Samsung to prove their point. The request for a peace talk also allows Judge Koh to get out of seeing the patents that Samsung claims are invalid finally rules on. If they are found to be invalid due to prior art then Apple is in a world of hurt with their designs. It would overturn judgments again HTC, Motorola and could potentially impact pending cases they have with multiple companies around the globe.
Although the legal teams on both sides have said they will pass the message on we have feeling that Samsung will hold their ground here and push forward. We also wonder if Judge Koh did not receive inspiration for this from an outside source. We have not evidence of this, but with the way things are going we would not be surprised if someone suggested she try to end this civilly with Apple’s patents still intact.
Discuss this in our Forum
