Samsung says Apple's claim is an affront to the integrity of the jury

Samsung Electronics has asked a court in California to strike down Apple’s “self-serving” recommendation of sanctions against the South Korean company for revealing to the press documents that were not allowed as evidence in a patent dispute, stating that Apple’s request is “an affront to the integrity of the jury.”

“Apple proceeds on the groundless assumption that the jury, already instructed by the Court not to read media accounts, will violate the Court’s instructions and do precisely that,” Samsung said in a filing Thursday to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The company has again denied in the filing Apple’s allegations that it was attempting to influence the jury in the patent lawsuit.

The information that Samsung shared with the media had already been disclosed to the public, and had been the subject of several publicly filed briefs and public court hearings, the filing said, largely reiterating a declaration on Wednesday by Samsung attorney John Quinn.

Apple has requested the court to sanction Samsung, including by granting judgment in Apple’s favour on its claim that Samsung infringes Apple’s phone design patents, and by granting judgment that those patents are not invalid.

Samsung’s release was targeted to expose the jury to excluded evidence through the press, Apple said.

In its filing, Samsung said that on July 31, representatives of Samsung emailed a statement to certain selected media members and transmitted to them several exhibits. The statement, provided by Samsung in the filing, said that Samsung was not allowed to tell the jury the full story, and the excluded evidence would have established beyond doubt that Samsung did not copy the iPhone design.

The exhibits included images meant to establish that Samsung developed a phone with several elements of the iPhone’s design ahead of the introduction of the iPhone in January, 2007. Also included were documents that sought to prove that Apple allegedly used a prototype inspired by Sony designs to arrive at the design of the iPhone.

Samsung said it made its statement to the press in view of recent rulings by the court that the trial would be “open”, to which the public and the media would receive the maximum possible access. “In the days and weeks leading up to jury selection and Samsung’s subsequent statement regarding public court proceedings, the Court stressed the importance of making these proceedings public and denied both parties’ motions to seal,” Samsung said in the filing.

Nothing in the statement released by Samsung to the press was false, let alone deceptive, nor did it undermine the integrity of the court’s proceedings, Samsung said in the filing. “Apple cites no authority supporting such an extreme sanction for conduct protected by the First Amendment,” it said.

Samsung said it had limited time to prepare its filing, and has requested an opportunity to file a further response should the court decide not to reject Apple’s recommendation.

Apple could not be immediately reached for comment.