The patented design of the iPad, like the third generation iPad pictured here, is up for judgment in Apple v. Samsung. Photo: Jon Phillips/Wired 
With witness testimony finishing up late this week and closing statements expected to begin next week, the patent case of the century, Apple v. Samsung, is getting into crunch time. The federal judge presiding over the case, Lucy Koh, is giving executives on both sides one last chance to hash out a solution on their own before the jurors begin deliberating next week.
“I see risk here for both sides if we go to a verdict,” Judge Koh said. The nine jurors selected for the case, most of whom have no technical background whatsoever, will determine if any of the many patents involved in the case were wrongly granted, if they’re being infringed, and how much the wronged party deserves in damages, if anything.
The verdict could have lasting reverberations among device makers as well as consumers, as injunctions preventing flagship devices from being sold in specific countries could be upheld.
“It’s time for peace,” Koh said. Very early in the trial, Koh said she has grown tired of the “theatrics” involved in the case. To date, Samsung has been sanctioned four times, and there have also been a number of heated in-court arguments and quibbles since the trial began.
In response to Koh’s advice to hash out a solution before the case is decided by a jury, both parties agreed to a meeting via telephone.
Much of Wednesday’s proceedings involved the tedious testimony of technical experts opining on Samsung’s 3G-related patent claims, but talk also went back to Samsung’s design process. Specifically, discussion centered around when Samsung began plans for its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. Multiple Samsung designers testified that they did not copy Apple’s designs, with industrial designer Jin Soo Kim saying the company began designing two versions of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 three months prior to the announcement of the iPad in January 2010.
“We decided we would produce the lightest and thinnest tablet in the world,” Kim said.
As of 1:10 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Samsung had used 20 of its 25 allotted hours for testimony and Apple had used 17.
The Fidler tablet prototype.
Earlier in the week, Samsung attempted to show jurors how Apple’s patents should not have been granted in the first place by providing examples of prior art, pre-existing tablets and tablet designs. This notably included the so-called “Fidler tablet,” named for its designer Roger Fidler, who testified in court that “Apple personnel were exposed to my tablet ideas and prototypes” in the mid ’90s. Samsung also showed pre-existing examples of Apple’s user interface utility patents.
Apple also continued to push its argument that Samsung indeed copied its design by showing the wedge-shaped Sony Tablet S in court Tuesday as an example of different, non infringing tablet designs.
Apple and Samsung have been embroiled in a jury trial for three weeks. Apple claims Samsung is infringing on design patents for the iPhone and iPad, as well as utility patents covering things such as the “bounce-back” effect when you reach the end of a list in the UI. Samsung is claiming Apple is infringing on its essential 3G transmission patent holdings. The trial is expected to come to a rousing conclusion by the last week of August.
Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/apple-v-samsung-week-3/
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