“A two-year legal battle between smartphone rivals Apple and Samsung has taken an unprecedented twist in Australia, with two Federal Court judges now hearing the case together,” James Hutchinson reports for The Financial Review.
“The case, which began in 2011, resumed in the Federal Court this week. Each company is consolidating its arguments in an attempt to simplify the complex layers of allegations and patent infringements each has claimed,” Hutchinson reports. “Justice Annabelle Bennett, who has heard the case since hearings began in 2011, was joined on Monday for the first time by Justice David Yates.”
Hutchinson reports, “Apple lead counsel Stephen Burley said it was the first time in the history of the Federal Court that two judges had heard an initial case together. The court system typically relies on one judge for initial hearings, and panels of an odd number of judges in case of a disagreement on ruling and reasons. But Justice Bennett had raised the notion of introducing a second judge to the hearing last year as a means of helping to understand the complex patents and mountains of documents involved.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If it’s legal and it speeds things up to the proper conclusion, so be it.
And, it’s not that complicated. Apple’s products came first, then Samsung’s:
Will justice ever really be served? Can it even be served at this late date?
“Can it even be served at this late date?”
No. That’s the criminal aspect of a slow judicial system. The Party that prevails isn’t necessarily the Party that won.
Face it people Aussie judges have it in for Apple. Don’t expect anything to come of this.
Even when we win we lose. Look at the case in California for instance. Billion dollar damages (under review after six months). Wilful copying (overturned). Jury trial (or so we thought).
Apple forever being screwed.
Like watching grass grow.