Apple v. Samsung Compilation Story for Last Week and Beginning of This Week

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The end of last week marked a couple of events in the Apple vs. Samsung trial. Here's a quick breakdown with some links for full details.

First, Judge Lucy Koh has barred one of Samsung's key witnesses from testifying in the trial. The witness is Hyong Shin Park, who was Samsung's lead designer for the F700 phone. Park was planning on testifying that the F700 was design-inspired by a "bowl of water" and would have reiterated that Samsung's choice of shapes, like rounded corners and the rectangular shape of the device were not about design but are simply about functionality. One of the other points that Samsung is trying to make is that Park's design is from December 2006, before Apple even launched its first iPhone.

Apple requested Park be barred from the trial and Judge Koh ruled in their favor. Apple's argument to the court was that the F700 isn't one of the accused phones. They also argued that her testimony was irrelevant because she didn't design any of the products that Apple claims are copying the iPhone. Apple also mentioned the fact that Park wasn't aware whether any of the accused Samsung phones were based on the F700. Apparently, the Judge agreed with this argument. This is a fairly sharp blow to Samsung.

The second bit of news from the trial is that Judge Koh is fed up with both sides over their bickering on Jury instructions. They met on Sunday to go over Jury instructions, and could not get anything ironed out. She ordered both of them to meet on Monday morning to file joint and disputed jury instructions. Here's a quote with some details,

Late Friday, Apple told the court that "although [it] has tried diligently to advance the process, Samsung has stymied those efforts", and asked the court for help. A couple of hours later came Samsung's reply. "(Samsung) has agreed to more than twenty revised instructions proposed by Apple and is continuing to review Apple's remaining disputed instructions for any common ground." While Samsung said it has agreed to twenty revised instructions from Apple, the Korean manufacturer said Apple agreed to only two jury instructions written by Samsung and one of those was merely the model used by the 9th Circuit.

This is a pretty big deal, because Jury instructions are the last words that a Jury hears and an outcome can sometimes hinge on the slightest detail. We will bring you another compilation either at the end of this week, or early next week if something new and interesting develops.

Source: CNET and PhoneArena