At Long Last, Testimony Wraps Up in Apple vs. Samsung

Phew!

After almost fifty hours of testimony, hundreds of exhibits and millions of dollars in expert opinions, Apple and Samsung finally bring an end to their mega patent suit against each other.

“We are done,” Judge Lucy Koh said as Apple lawyer Bill Lee ended his cross-examination of Samsung’s last rebuttal witness.

Testimony ended with a rapid-fire succession of witnesses as both Apple and Samsung raced against the clock. Koh limited each side to 25 hours of testimony before the jury.

The two sides still have to finalize the instructions that will be given to the seven men and two women who will decide the case. Each side will also be able to deliver two hours of closing arguments on Tuesday before the jury starts its deliberation.

Apple has sued Samsung for violating several patents as well as infringing on several protected design elements, known as “trade dress.” Samsung denies those charges and has countersued Apple for infringing on three feature patents as well as some core wireless patents.

The jury will have to unanimously agree that a particular patent is valid and infringed by a particular device in order for a finding of infringement. There are dozens of different phones and tablets at issue in the case, in addition to the many patents.

Judge Koh has pushed both sides to consider narrowing their case against one another, even suggesting some “horse trading” could be in order.

Things had grown increasingly testy, particularly outside the jury’s presence, as the trial drew to a close.

Samsung, in particular, has been tight on time for several days. Judge Koh warned Samsung on Thursday that she wouldn’t be entertaining a motion that it didn’t have enough time to make its case. Samsung, she said, chose to use more than half its time questioning Apple’s witnesses.

Via: ATD