By Kim Yoo-chul
Samsung Electronics and Apple have agreed not to put their upcoming new devices in a second trial in San Jose slated for March, according to a global patent expert, Wednesday.
Under the agreement, Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy SIV and Apple’s mini iPad3 will not be included in the second court hearing, according to Samsung.
Florian Mueller, the founder of popular FossPatents blog, said Wednesday in his blog that Apple and Samsung filed a joint stipulation with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California concerning the addition of new products or new product versions to the second case pending between the parties in that district.
Mueller said iPhone5, iPad mini, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 will be on the table in the second hearing. This second California case involves different patents from ones in the first trial last summer, according to the German-based intellectual property expert.
``The strategic significant of both California lawsuits now largely depends on whether the Federal Circuit will grant Apple’s request for a rehearing en banc of a landmark decision concerning the availability of injunctive relief against multi-feature devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs,’’ said Mueller.
``If injunctions remain largely unavailable, the California lawsuits will merely be about damages for past infringement and ongoing royalties for future use,’’ he insisted.
In the first round, the U.S. Federal Judge Lucy Koh ruled Apple’s request to block the sale of Samsung devices in the United States was groundless, though she also threw out Samsung’s request to open a new trial due to jury foreman Velvin Hogan’s apparent misconduct.
In Europe, a court in the Hague, the Netherlands, will rule Apple’s claim that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet infringed on its design patents, late Wednesday.