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Apple Requests Sanctions Against Samsung Delivering Default Victory in Design Patent Case

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Apr 12, 2001
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The ongoing court case between Apple and Samsung over alleged patent and design infringement has continued to take strange and interesting turns, with Samsung having been chided earlier this week for publicly releasing evidence that it had already been barred from presenting in court. But in taking its case to the media, Samsung raised the ire of the judge overseeing the case and caused Apple to file a request for sanctions based on the claim that Samsung is trying to improperly influence the jury in the case.

The disputed evidence involves Sony-inspired iPhone prototypes as well as information on Samsung's F700 smartphone, which the company says carries a similar design to the iPhone but for which Samsung has internal documentation of the design dating back to mid-2006, before the iPhone's January 2007 unveiling.

apple_samsung_logos.jpg



AllThingsD reports that Apple has taken the rather bold position that sanctions against Samsung should result in a default ruling from the judge against Samsung.
Apple, in its motion for sanctions, argues that Samsung's broadcast of excluded evidence is not only a clear attempt to prejudice the jury, but part of an emerging pattern of misconduct.

"Samsung already has been sanctioned four times in this case for discovery abuses. Most recently, Samsung was sanctioned for destroying evidence," Apple's legal team wrote. "Litigation misconduct is apparently a part of Samsung's litigation strategy -- and limited sanctions have not deterred Samsung from such misconduct. Now, with so much at stake, Samsung has taken the calculated risk that any sanctions arising from its attempt to influence the jury with its excluded arguments are a price it is willing to pay."
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Outlining its belief that Samsung's escalation of misconduct in the case can only be properly addressed by a judge-ordered decision against the company, Apple notes that "serious misconduct can only be cured through a serious sanction".

As highlighted by FOSS Patents, Apple's request for sanctions would cover only the four design infringement claims against Samsung, with the remaining software patent claims and trade dress issues still being subject to a decision by the jury.
In that case, Samsung would potentially face a billion-dollar damages bill, most of which would be a disgorgement of infringer's profits. The jury would still have to establish liability with respect to Apple's three software patents-in-suit and its two trade dresses, but liability with respect to the four design patents-in-suit would be determined by the court.
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As an alternative to the proposed court-issued decision in Apple's favor, Apple proposes a somewhat lesser sanction that would see the jury informed of Samsung's misconduct and instructed that the court believes Samsung to have infringed Apple's designs, with Samsung also being barred from any further discussion of the disputed evidence.

Article Link: Apple Requests Sanctions Against Samsung Delivering Default Victory in Design Patent Case
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/08/02/apple-requests-sanctions-against-samsung-delivering-default-victory-in-design-patent-case/
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samcraig

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1. Personally I think this makes Apple look desperate. As if they don't believe they can win the case.

2. As far as I can tell (and I could be wrong) nothing that was actually released wasn't already in the public domain anyway.
 
Santabean2000

Santabean2000

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Does look like Samsung is resorting to pulling hair and kicking at the nuts in an attempt to get out of this one.
 
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yojo056

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I don't think its desperate at all on Apples part... I think they see Samsungs missteps in this giant chess game and their going for the throat. This gives Apple an easy way to at least win a strategic battle on part of the case (the hardware issue of the four devices) so they can focus on the jury.

I see the judge as being more cut and dry in Apples favor since she is already angry with Samsung, where a jury can be swayed one way or another by clever words, and argument.
 
KnightWRX

KnightWRX

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Peace said:
There's a reason the judge left out samsungs "evidence".
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Yes, Samsung was late in filing it.

I don't think Apple should "win by default" because of this though. Win on the merit of your case and IP. It's not as if Apple itself didn't submit shoddy evidence (the photoshopping of Samsung devices to make them seem more like iPads/iPhones comes to mind).
 
BornAgainMac

BornAgainMac

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Even if Apple loses I will always think of Samsung as a parts manufacture that copied Apple's products, marketing, and packaging to be more like Apple.
 
LordVic

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Intriguing Development.

all speculation:

Apple filing this motion and demanding that they win by default might show that even within apple, they believe that winning purely based on the patents might be difficult (as even we see in our own discussions, there's no clear cut answers).

However, If apple manages to win by default, they would avoid possibly losing patents through invalidation (if there's no ruling from a judge that rules them invalid). Which means the patents would persist for future litigation.

If this motion passes and Samsung loses by default, Apple would win big time. While nothing would be proven patent wise, They'd win all the damages, plus not have to prove anything.

Samsung's lawyers should have been wiser, And I wouldn't honestly fault the judge for Samsungs Guffaw
 
M

mbh

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Jul 18, 2002
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samcraig said:
1. Personally I think this makes Apple look desperate. As if they don't believe they can win the case.
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Lawyers often ask for things they know they aren't going to get. If they failed to ask, they could be blamed later for not doing the utmost for their client.
 
KnightWRX

KnightWRX

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Peace said:
I think it was mock-ups based off of rumored iPhone mockups.
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The rejected evidence includes evidence about the F700 design and development. It is much larger than just "rumored mock-ups".

It was because Samsung were late. Simply :

http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-apple-trial-leak-release-evidence-104815/
The presiding judge of the case, Lucy Koh, rejected Samsung’s multiple motions on the matter, because they were filed too late in the discovery stage (the stage when the two parties in a trial submit their evidence).
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samcraig

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BornAgainMac said:
Even if Apple loses I will always think of Samsung as a parts manufacture that copied Apple's products, marketing, and packaging to be more like Apple.
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That's ok. Both Apple and Samsung will always think of you as a $ sign regardless of who wins.
 
nagromme

nagromme

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May 2, 2002
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KnightWRX said:
Yes, Samsung was late in filing it.

I don't think Apple should "win by default" because of this though. Win on the merit of your case and IP. It's not as if Apple itself didn't submit shoddy evidence (the photoshopping of Samsung devices to make them seem more like iPads/iPhones comes to mind).
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Apple shouldn’t win by default.

But they should ASK for it if their lawyers are any good. Give Samsung an inch and they’ll take a mile (along with the designs for anything they want to grab). Always ask for MORE than you think you can get, and come down from there.

Apple didn’t invent the patent system nor the games around it. But they do HAVE to play the game that exists. (Remember, for instance, that as of last year and probably still now: Apple is the most-sued tech company. They are not always the aggressor, as some seem to assume. Of course, I’d consider a company stealing Apple innovation to be the real aggressor anyway.)

KnightWRX said:
The rejected evidence includes evidence about the F700 design and development. It is much larger than just "rumored mock-ups".

It was because Samsung were late. Simply :

http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-apple-trial-leak-release-evidence-104815/
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About that F700... which came after the iPhone:
http://www.theverge.com/2011/04/20/talk-picture-samsung-f700/
 
Mad-B-One

Mad-B-One

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Jun 24, 2011
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samcraig said:
1. Personally I think this makes Apple look desperate. As if they don't believe they can win the case.

2. As far as I can tell (and I could be wrong) nothing that was actually released wasn't already in the public domain anyway.
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Well, the problem is that if Samsung - and not a blogger or fan - releases and publishes etc. material which was excluded from evidence, this looks rather desperate on their side. Samsung is one of Apple's supliers and might have been in the loop on what they planned to come out with and that is not even reflected here. If someone orders to build a touch pannel a certain size and you hastily try to build a device around a similar pannel, that is blatent copying. I don't know if they did that or not, but I could imagine it.
Edit: PS, Apple lawyers try to win a case here. If they see a chance to get a favourable ruling, they will take that chance. It's not despiration, it's comon sense. It was mentioned that Samsung violated code of conduct four times already. That is not Apple's despiration either, is it?
 
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samcraig

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Jun 22, 2009
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mbh said:
Lawyers often ask for things they know they aren't going to get. If they failed to ask, they could be blamed later for not doing the utmost for their client.
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I agree. I still think it can APPEAR as if they don't think they can win on merit alone. My opinion of course...
 
KnightWRX

KnightWRX

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BornAgainMac said:
Even if Apple loses I will always think of Samsung as a parts manufacture that copied Apple's products, marketing, and packaging to be more like Apple.
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Why ? Will you also think of Apple as having copied from Android for feature lists in the last 3 releases of iOS ?

I will always think objectively based on facts, no matter what happens in any court case, nor will I ever side with a particular side and believe what they say 100% without verifying their statements myself.

Why would you want to live any other way ?
 
gnasher729

gnasher729

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samcraig said:
1. Personally I think this makes Apple look desperate. As if they don't believe they can win the case.
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Excuse me. So Samsung tries to submit evidence well past the deadline, most likely to make sure that Apple has no time to respond in court. And if the evidence was any good, then they would have submitted it in time, unless their lawyers are total morons. Then they are told that this evidence cannot be submitted. Then they have the audacity to go against what the judge tells them and publish all this so-called evidence as widely as possible. And all this makes Apple look desperate. :eek:
 
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swingerofbirch

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I originally thought that Apple's battles were about the software designs in Android but they were going through the handset manufacturers. This battle seems to be all about the actual shape of the phone. I think that's far fetched. I remember people with Windows Mobile devices back in the 90s that used touch screens and were pretty much just all screen. If you step back and look at them, the iPhone looks simpler and cleaner, but the overall design isn't dramatically different.
 
KnightWRX

KnightWRX

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Peace said:
A more neutral link would be better. ;)
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Sure, but that's the best I could find rapidly. It was still because of that, I didn't link it there to say Samsung's evidence was good or bad, only to state the reason for its rejection. No matter what the site thinks of the evidence itself, the reason is a matter of fact, not opinion.
 
D

dethmaShine

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KnightWRX said:
Yes, Samsung was late in filing it.

I don't think Apple should "win by default" because of this though. Win on the merit of your case and IP.
Click to expand...

This is very crucial as it influences the decision of the Jury. Apple is simply asking the judge to release JMOL's based on the contempt and release the verdict in favor of them and have requested Samsung to be sanctioned for their wrong-doings.

It's not as if Apple itself didn't submit shoddy evidence (the photoshopping of Samsung devices to make them seem more like iPads/iPhones comes to mind).
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Another comment, another B.S. statement. On the very same page, Apple refers to the exact dimensions of both products. Moreover, Apple released a number of Samsung images in the same document and specifically say that the Samsung in context is bigger and that their dimensions are different.

Apple was simply making a point that Samsung cannot simply make the phone bigger and avoid getting caught.

But, yeah. Rage on!
 
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