Samsung aims for liability retrial on devices in Apple case
updated 11:45 am EDT, Thu March 21, 2013
Apple, Samsung increasingly split on trial's outcome
Samsung has asked for court permission to exceed a page limit in response to Apple's demand to accelerate a retrial for vacated damages, but has made some more significant demands in the process, says FOSS Patents. "[I]f the Court declines to enter the partial final judgment and stay that Samsung has requested, and instead sets the case for immediate new trial [as Apple requested], the Seventh Amendment would require that the new jury retry certain liability issues along with the damages issues that are subject to the Court's new trial order," Samsung's filing says, claiming precedent in two other lawsuits.
Expanding the retrial on 14 products to encompass liability, not just damages, would only stand to benefit Samsung, since last year's verdict was otherwise entirely in Apple's favor. If the court does agree on a need to retry liability it may also be inclined to grant Samsung's desired stay pending the outcome of an appeal for the current verdict. One exception might be if the court agrees with Apple that a partial final judgment Samsung is requesting wouldn't be appealable, in which case other matters must be handled before the appeal Samsung is pursuing.
Samsung has also asked the Federal Circuit for a 30-day time extension to respond to an Apple opening brief on the matter of injunctive relief. The present deadline is set for March 28th, but if granted, an extension would push it to April 29th. The request motion also states that if Samsung does get a partial final judgment, the company will appeal it, and then ask that an appeal of liability and damages for the 14 products that didn't get vacated damages be consolidated with an Apple appeal of the denial of a permanent injunction. In earlier court documents, Apple has said it knew Samsung would want that consolidation.
