SAN JOSE (US), Apr 1: Jurors have been selected for a high-stakes patent battle between smartphone rivals Apple and Samsung, setting the stage for attorneys to open fire regarding who copied innovations.
The case concerns smartphone and tablet patents and is just the latest in a long-running feud between the two tech giants battling for supremacy in a multibillion-dollar market.
Apple and Samsung lawyers will begin opening remarks today before of the freshly-chosen panel of 10 jurors and US District Court Judge Lucy Koh in the California city of San Jose.
The jury of six women and four men promised Koh they would keep open minds and only consider evidence presented in her courtroom.
Koh presided over a trial last year that ended with a jury declaring Samsung owed Apple more than a billion dollars in damages for infringing patents with some older model Android-powered devices.
The damages award was later trimmed to USD 929 million and is being appealed.
If this new trial goes in Apple’s favour, it could result in an even bigger award since it involves better-selling Samsung devices built with Google-backed Android software.
Unlike last year’s trial, this one takes aim at devices still on the market, such as the Galaxy S3 from Samsung’s flagship line and iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S.
During a day-long interview process for weeding out potentially biased jurors, candidates were asked what devices they or their relatives owned.
Jury candidates rattled off arrays of iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macintosh computers, with scant mention of Samsung devices other than television sets or DVD players.
“You are going to hear that Samsung sold a lot of smartphones,” Samsung attorney Bill Price said while questioning the panel.
“Looking at you folks it may be hard to believe. I am getting Apple, Apple, Apple.”
Price pressed prospective jurors about whether they would favour local company Apple with its headquarters a short distance away in Cupertino over South Korea-based Samsung.
One prospective juror from Apple’s home city of Cupertino conceded she had an “affinity” for Apple and had read the biography of legendary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
At the behest of Samsung, she was excused by the judge.
Potential jurors were also asked to share their thoughts about Google, the Internet titan behind Android software powering Samsung smartphones at issue in the patent trial.
Google engineers are among those on the witness list for the proceedings. While Apple has yet to attack Google directly in court, the accusations in the trial here involve features built into Android. (AGENCIES)
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