
In the Apple vs. Samsung damages retrial, attorneys for each side offered their respective closing pitches to the jurors, one of which caused Samsung to call for a mistrial, as a decision is close at hand. During the recent proceedings, Apple counsel Harold McElhinny used his allotted 90 minutes to restate evidence presented over the week-long retrial where Apple is seeking $380 million in vacated damages. In opposition, Samsung attorney William Price continued to state Apple exaggerated the importance of the five patents-in-suit.
Of the proceedings, of particular interest was a request to call a mistrial over a portion of McElhinny’s closing arguments. According to CNET, the Apple lawyer said US television manufacturers went belly-up because they didn’t adequately protect their patents. Samsung took this as playing a nationalistic/racial card, which it claims has no place in the case. McElhinny said the following regarding the matter:
Our economy will disappear. If the cost of breaking the law is a small fine [...] Samsung's copying will have proven successful.
I don't think what occurred rises to the level of a mistrial, but some remedy might be appropriate to avoid further issues later on.
Witnesses forget, or in the case of Samsung here, witnesses don't appear.
Apple doesn't own beautiful and sexy. What they're saying is, in the market, justice is just us.
Source: CNET, Reuters
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