“The wide-ranging intellectual property spat between Apple and Samsung is full of acrimony and controversy at all levels,” Florian Mueller reports for FOSS Patents. “They can’t even agree on schedules, and there’s no détente in sight: Samsung has asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to disqualify at least some or potentially even all of Apple’s outside lawyers from the case, citing concerns over a conflict of interest and the treatment of privileged and confidential information gathered in the past.”
“Samsung’s motion is 20 pages long,” Mueller reports. “The gist of it is that Samsung wants the recently-founded law firm of Bridges & Mavrakakis barred from the case because at least five of its lawyers — including one of its founders, Kenneth Bridges — previously represented Samsung while they were with another firm, Kirkland & Ellis.”
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Mueller reports, “Samsung then goes on to argue that this fact “taints all attorneys at Bridges & Mavrakakis through imputation”. But not enough: Samsung additionally demands that Apple’s two other law firms involved with this federal lawsuit (Morrison & Foerster and Wilmer Hale) “provide affidavits confirming they have not received any Samsung confidential information from attorneys at Bridges & Mavrakakis” while those firms were coordinating Apple’s representation so far or, absent such assurance, be disqualified as well.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If Samsung had decided to make their own unique phones and tablets instead of peddling pretend iPhones and fake iPads to the ignorant, none of this rigmarole would be necessary.
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