Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Industry and Business News .




TECH SPACE
Judge calls for "global peace" in Apple-Samsung war
by Staff Writers
San Jose, California (AFP) Dec 6, 2012


A judge mulling whether to trim or overturn Apple's billion-dollar damages award against Samsung on Thursday called for a ceasefire in the ongoing patent war between the smartphone titans.

"I think it's time for global peace," US District Court Judge Lucy Koh said after legal teams from Apple and Samsung dueled for hours over post-verdict motions in her courtroom in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose.

"Let me hear if there is anything the court can do," she continued. "It would be good for consumers; good for the industry and good for the parties."

Samsung attorney Charles Verhoeven responded to the challenge by saying the South Korean consumer electronics firm was willing to negotiate a settlement with Apple but "the ball is in their court."

Apple attorney Harold McElhinny expressed no interest in working out a settlement, opting instead to urge Koh to back legal "remedies" daunting enough to dissuade a powerhouse like Samsung from ever copying an Apple gadget.

"It is the power of this court to establish a line and enforce it," McElhinny argued. "If you didn't see the same case that the jury saw, I am not sure how we get to resolution."

Verhoeven told Koh that Apple was engaging in "thermo-nuclear war" and choosing the court instead of the market as the battle ground.

Koh massaged her temples at times as she grilled rival attorneys for more than four hours regarding nuances of law and evidence underlying the slew of motions filed after the $1.049 billion jury verdict three months earlier.

At times, she challenged Apple to convince her why the damages award for patent infringement wasn't excessive.

How legal and sound the jury's calculations were, and whether the massive award should be reduced or even whether a new trial should be held just to recalculate damages, were among the matters tackled by Koh.

"I have quite a number of questions, because there are so many issues and they are quite complex," Koh told the rival legal teams.

"I am planning to issue orders in installments, organized by subject matter," she added, explaining that her decisions on motions would be doled out in the weeks or months ahead.

Koh questioned the jury's mathematical and legal logic, targeting specific Samsung smartphones at issue in the case.

"I don't see how you can look at the aggregate verdict without looking at the pieces put together to make that verdict," Koh replied after Apple attorneys urged her not to try to figure out the jury's reasoning, device by device.

"If there is a basis to uphold the damages award, by the record, then I am going to uphold it," she continued. "But I think it is appropriate to do analysis by product."

Apple attorneys protested that Koh was trying to dig into the jury's thought process, while Samsung countered that it was proper for the judge to "reverse engineer" the damages award.

Motions addressed included Samsung's request to have the verdict overturned on the grounds that a juror's own legal dispute wrongly led to the South Korean firm being hit with a billion-dollar patent damages award.

Samsung wanted the verdict tossed out based on the jury foreman's undisclosed legal skirmish with Seagate nearly 20 years ago.

The foreman had worked for Seagate, a technology company in which Samsung owns a small stake, and wound up declaring bankruptcy after a court battle with his former employer.

Samsung tried to convince Koh that the juror's experience influenced the August verdict, in what amounted to misconduct strong enough to have the outcome overturned.

"He was deliberately dishonest," argued Samsung attorney John Quinn. "He should have been excused."

Apple argued that it was ludicrous to believe the man held a grudge for 19 years and then made it his purpose in life to get onto the jury to exact revenge.

Koh is also considering a motion by Apple for an injunction banning US sales of eight Samsung smartphone models said to contain patented technology at issue in the trial.

Apple also wants the award tripled on the grounds the patent infringement was "willful."

The damages the jury ordered Samsung to pay to Apple for illegally copying iPhone and iPad features made it one of the biggest patent cases in decades.

Jurors decided the case with over 700 separate claims in less than three days of deliberations.

Samsung had steadfastly denied the charges by Apple, claiming it developed its devices independently. It unsuccessfully argued that Apple infringed on its wireless patents.

.


Related Links
Space Technology News - Applications and Research






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








TECH SPACE
Smartphones might soon develop emotional intelligence
Rochester NY (SPX) Dec 07, 2012
If you think having your phone identify the nearest bus stop is cool, wait until it identifies your mood.New research by a team of engineers at the University of Rochester may soon make that possible. At the IEEE Workshop on Spoken Language Technology, the researchers will describe a new computer program that gauges human feelings through speech, with substantially greater accuracy than existing ... read more


TECH SPACE
Apple's CEO to bring production back to US

Judge calls for "global peace" in Apple-Samsung war

NASA Investigates Use of 'Trailblazing' Material for New Sensors

Boeing and JVC Add More Realism to Military Training Simulation

TECH SPACE
US Air Force selects Raytheon to develop future Protected SATCOM System

General Dynamics Awarded Contract Under New U.S. Army Rapid-Acquisition Communications Program

Astrium to provide military X-band satcoms to six UK Royal Navy vessels

Lockheed Martin to Demonstrate Key Component of Tactical MilSat Communications System

TECH SPACE
Sea Launch Delivers the EUTELSAT 70B Spacecraft into Orbit

S. Korea readies new bid to join global space club

Arianespace Lofts Pleiades 1B Using Soyuz Medium-lift launcher

Japan Schedules Radar Satellite Launch

TECH SPACE
Third Galileo satellite begins transmitting navigation signal

Retired GIOVE-A satellite helps SSTL demonstrate first High Altitude GPS navigation fix

GTX Gets Approval For Custom Two-Way GPS Tracking Devices On Planes

East Riding Of Yorkshire Council Selects Ctrack For Specialist Vehicle Tracking Solution

TECH SPACE
Australia retires H-variant C-130 Hercules

F-35 Lightning II Program Surpasses 5,000 Flight Hours

China Southern to buy 10 A330-300 aircraft

Four injured in China fighter jet crash: reports

TECH SPACE
New '4-D' transistor is preview of future computers

Ames Laboratory scientists develop indium-free organic light-emitting diodes

Research discovery could revolutionise semiconductor manufacture

Engineers pave the way towards 3D printing of personal electronics

TECH SPACE
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Turns 15

Tracking Pollution from Outer Space

NASA's TRMM Satellite Confirms 2010 Landslides

GOES-R Satellite Program Undergoes Successful Review

TECH SPACE
China aims to reduce air pollution

Declining air pollution levels continue to improve life expectancy in US

Asia air pollution deaths to rise: environment group

Kerosene lamps spew black carbon, should be replaced




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement