In what’s sure to dominate the tech press for a little while longer, the Apple v Samsung trial number two keeps on rolling and now, the Jury is getting ready to pass verdict on the case. 53 pages of material will be passed to the Jury to trawl through and whoever is on this Jury will have a fun time dealing with patents and deciding whether or not the seven patents have been infringed on by Samsung or Apple, or both. There’s no telling what the outcome is going to be just yet, but we’re all hoping that, at this point, the whole thing comes to an end.
The 53-page document will contain 43 instructions for the Jury to follow, and to reinforce those instructions, Judge Koh will be telling the Jury “you will apply the law as I give it to you. You must follow the law as I give it to you whether you agree with it or not. Do not let personal likes or dislikes, opinions, prejudices, bias, or sympathy influence your decision. Bias includes bias for or against any party or any witness based upon nationality, race or ethnicity. That means that you must decide the case solely on the evidence before you. You will recall that you took an oath to do so.” Stern words from the same Judge that presided over the original case.
There are seven patents at the heart of this latest case, five of them of which Apple is saying Samsung has infringed upon (which Samsung is of course denying) and two which Samsung says Apple is infringing on. These patents range from the controversial patent that was granted in 1996 as well as a host of patents that are core parts of Google’s Android operating system. Devices that Samsung is saying Apple has infringed upon go as far back as the iPhone 4, meanwhile Apple is going as far back as the Galaxy S II looking for damages.
The 8-person Jury will start deliberating starting from today, Tuesday, after closing arguments from both Apple and Samsung. The outcome from this latest case is likely to the last big bust-up that Apple and Samsung have in court, not because Apple can’t think of more patents they think people have infringed upon, but more because the US courts seem to have had enough of things. Those interested in reading the Jury directions can do so by following the source link.