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The patent battle between Apple and Samsung is getting even more heated as Apple claims that Samsung has been intentionally destroying evidence that could be important to the trial.
The motion, unearthed by Network World, was filed by Apple earlier this month and states that Samsung’s actions count as “spoilation of evidence” in the ongoing trial to determine whether Samsung has copied Apple’s products. As a result, Apple wants the judge to instruct the jury that, “Samsung had a duty to preserve relevant evidence, failed to do so, and acted in bad faith in failing to meet its legal duty.”
“If the jury finds Samsung liable for infringement, they may presume that the infringement was ‘intentional, willful, without regard to Apple’s rights… and the documents would have been advantageous to Apple’s position’. Bold claims indeed.
As an example of the potential importance of these emails, Apple explains how in one such communiqué, Dr Hong, head of Samsung’s product strategy team, “directly orders side-by-side comparisons of Apple and Samsung products for design presentations. Apple and the Court cannot possibly know how many more emails Dr. Hong sent or received that would have supported Apple’s claims that Samsung copied Apple products had they not been deleted.”
A hearing to discuss Apple’s new claims is to take place on 7 June, the results of which could potentially be brought into the wider legal showdown, due to take place in July.
The two companies have been at odds for what seems like forever over Apple’s claims that Samsung has infringed on numerous patents belonging to Apple, which have helped Samsung become the world’s leading phone manufacturer. Both parties recently dropped numerous patent claims in order to keep to the original court date, but these current allegations may act as another spanner in the works, pushing the date back further still.
