Apple: Litigation Misconduct Is Part of Samsung’s Legal Strategy

Apple has asked the federal court judge presiding over its patent infringement case against Samsung to rule in its favor, after the South Korean company’s legal team publicly released evidence that had been excluded from trial.

That evidence was pulled together in support of Samsung’s argument that Apple derived the original design of the iPhone from Sony — an argument excluded from the case because Samsung didn’t disclose it until after the discovery phase of the trial concluded. In a filing to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Apple said the court should sanction Samsung by ruling that the patents at issue in the case are valid and infringed by Samsung. And if the court declines to do so, it should at the very least instruct the jury that Samsung has engaged in “serious misconduct,” and bar the company from any further mention of its “Sony style” argument in court. Apple, in its motion for sanctions, argues that Samsung’s broadcast of excluded evidence is not only a clear attempt to prejudice the jury, but part of an emerging pattern of misconduct. From Apple’s perspective, Samsung’s release of excluded evidence at a time when the jury will be away from Court for two days, was not only a clear attempt to prejudice the jury but a gambit for a mistrial. But Apple has no plans to request a mistrial. To do so, the company argues, would be to reward Samsung’s misconduct.