Judge Lucy Koh has been under a lot of scrutiny since it was announced she was presiding over the patent trial between Samung and Apple. I wrote a rather scathing article myself. I can’t imagine she’s been the favorite in the eyes of many Samsung and Android fans considering her decision to severely limit the amount of evidence and time to deliberate. Beyond that, she’s seemed somewhat testy with the South Korean Tech Giant’s legal counsel.
However, today, she asked something reasonable. Hell, it’s even admirable. She’s asked the two most profitable mobile makers in the world to sit back down and try to sort it out. What? After hearing about her unfathomable injunctions against the Galaxy Nexus, the somewhat understood injunctions against the Tab 10.1, her unjust restrictions of evidence and procedure, and her exchanging words with Samsung’s Lawyers over their right to share information with the press in an open trial, I’d just assumed she had been passing time between hearings playing Words With Friends on her iPhone 4S.
But no, Little Lucy Koh is asking the two companies to act like men and sort this out. I respect this request and if she continues making intelligent decisions, I may have to remove my derogatory undertones when speaking about her.
Today, in her courtroom, she requested, “If you can have your CEOs have one last conversation, I’d appreciate it.” While it doesn’t seem like much more than a slight nudging, this is a great improvement to her prior rhetoric. Considering Samsung has finally went on the offensive, I’m wondering if she sees any true value to their case. If so, she may be subtly pushing Apple to get what they can in license agreement before they end up with nothing.
Of course this is speculation but one has to wonder what her motives are when it has seemed apparent that she had it out for the South Korean manufacturer. Does she see any weight in Samsung’s case and fears for her beloved California iPhone maker? Is she just tired of overseeing a case of “this pinch zoom is more important than your rounded rectangles?” Does she feel the weight of the world knowing that the outcome of this trial could permanently influence the industry in a potentially debilitating way? Or maybe… Just maybe she is seeking an amicable solution knowing that it may be the only way to truly exercise justice.
I don’t know but I welcome another sit-down. Nothing will be accomplished in this trial except conceding that the system, as royally f***ed up as it is, is still viable. It isn’t. It hinders progress and companies like Apple that abuse it need no more than to be put down like rabid dogs. Since corporations aren’t susceptible to bullets, it leaves us two solutions. Either we can expect the broken American judicial system to work or we can sit down and play nice. And I’m not holding my breath on the former.