“During the summer patent trial involving Apple and Samsung, jurors found that Apple was guilty of infringing on Samsung’s patents and awarded the company $1 billion in damages,” Louis Bedigian reports for Forbes.
“According to Computerworld, Lucy Koh — the judge that presided over the patent trial — will consider Samsung’s claims of jury misconduct,” Bedigian reports. “Samsung alleges that jury foreman Velvin Hogan was not truthful during the voir dire, a court procedure in which prospective jurors are questioned about their backgrounds and potential biases. Hogan neglected to reveal the fact that Seagate — his former employer — sued him in 1993 for breach of contract… At first glance, this might seem like an irrelevant bit of information. But in December 2011, Seagate acquired Samsung’s HDD business in a $1.4 billion deal that consisted of cash and 45,239,490 Seagate shares. ”
Bedigian reports, “Samsung may never know if Hogan purposely hid that information from the court. Only he can answer that question. But his admission — temporary or otherwise — could be enough to cause a mistrial. If that happens, the $1.05 billion verdict will be vacated, forcing Apple and Samsung to start all over.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Samsung’s grasping at straws, but predicting an outcome from the U.S. legal system is a fool’s errand. If we had to bet on anything, we’d bet that Samsung’s lawyers made sure Hogan was on that jury as insurance in the event they lost. Yes, it’s pretty piss-poor insurance, but it’s something, at least (Judge Lucy bought enough of it not to have dismissed it out of hand). And, judging by the evidence below, it’s quite likely Samsung’s legal team knew full well that their chances of losing were high.
Apple’s products came first, then Samsung’s:
Related articles:
Samsung claims jury foreman ‘misconduct’ tainted Apple patent case – October 3, 2012
Apple calls Samsung’s allegation of jury misconduct ‘frivolous on its face’ – September 26, 2012
Judge Lucy Koh to consider whether foreman in Apple v. Samsung concealed info – November 9, 2012
Samsung goes after jury foreman in bid to reverse Apple verdict – September 26, 2012
