It now looks like the next major patent trial between Samsung and Apple will include the most recent offerings from the two companies. Judge Paul Grewal signed a joint stipulation order that was recently filed by the two major players from the smartphone and tablet space.
The trial in question, under Judge Lucy Koh’s ruling, is set to begin on March 31, 2014 and this decision means that Apple adds to its order; the Samsung Galaxy Note II as well as the Samsung Galaxy SIII (Running Android 4.1.1), the Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro, and tablet offerings Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 Wi-Fi as well as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1. Samsung, on the other hand, gets to add to their case Apple’s iPhone 5. The Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini was dropped from the case after the judge determined that Samsung was not actively selling the Mini through channels in the United States and Samsung gave it’s word not to bring the device to market in the States.
The reason we are seeing this happening now for a trial that will not begin for another year is that the discovery process for adding or throwing out devices will end this July. So, expect to hear about Apple trying to add more and maybe even forthcoming Samsung devices (if they happen to launch with Android 4.1.1) to this case. Samsung would also be able to add any iProduct believed to be in violation to the case before said date.
This case is part of the ongoing patent trial that began with Apple filing suit that the Galaxy Nexus infringed on it’s patents and asked for an injunction against the Galaxy Nexus back in February of 2012. The ‘604 patent (U.S. Patent #8,086,604 to be exact) deals with core search functionality such as Apple’s Siri and Android’s Voice and Google (on device) search functionality in Android 4.1.1. The filing also claimed that Samsung devices infringed on U.S. patent numbers 5,946,647 (actionable linking) , 8,074,172 (touch screen word suggestions) and 8,046,721 (Slide to Unlock). The injunction was blocked by a three judge panel in October of last year and now Judge Lucy Koh, with new devices in question, will have the final decision on the matter.
Check the first source link for the most recent complete court documents.
Source:AppleInsider PhoneArena Times of India CNET