Let’s face it, we all hate paperwork, even if you were the type to tell me you did like paperwork, there’s absolutely no way I’d believe you. I have a printer under my desk and I’ve used it, roughly 5 or so times, if you’re working online like I am, a printer serves little purpose. All that paper lying around, sitting there. If the thought of paper waste annoyed you then you’re going to love what the courts have in store for the jury on the mammoth Apple v Samsung case. The verdict form, for each member of the jury, weighs in at 22 pages with 36 main questions. This doesn’t all that bad, does it?
Well, it is, because whilst 36 main questions seems an okay amount to answer, all the subsequent questions add up to the 700 mark. The thing about this particular verdict form is that, not only do the jury need to decide whether or not Samsung did indeed infringe on Apple’s patents they need to do the same for Samsung Electronics America as well as Samsung Telecommunications. They then need to do this for 24 individual handsets. That’s a lot of questions to get through. Can somebody say SATs?
One question on the form, for example question one, asks “For each of the following products, has Apple proven by a preponderance of the evidence that Samsung Electronics Co. (SEC), Samsung Electronics America (SEA), and/or Samsung Telecommunications America (STA) has infringed Claim 19 of the ‘381 Patent?”. Now, that’s a pretty mouthy sentence on its own now, add 57 parts below it to fill in and you have yourself a mini-SAT right there. The form itself goes into some hardcore detailing the more you get into it, there are questions that not only ask the jury of an “amount in dollars” Apple should be entitled to but, also how much so for each individual handset.
The closing arguments of the case are set for Tomorrow, once these are in the jury is then free to deliberate on the outcome of the case. How long that’s going to take, nobody quite knows and with a mammoth task like this before them it could take them some time, indeed. One thing’s for sure, the outcome of this case is not only going to be of interest to the tech world but, the press as a whole. Never before has there been a technology case of such magnitude, Apple and Samsung are two of the biggest names in tech and to see them go at it over the iPhone, a colossal consumer hit makes for a high-profile case.
[Source: Computer World]