Apple, Inc. (AAPL) Wins a Round in Samsung Patent Trial

Friday afternoon, Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) won at least a round in its patent battle against Samsung, which was in its third official day of proceedings Friday. It turns out that the judge in the case had ruled certain piece of evidence presented by Samsung were to be excluded from the case and brought into evidence before the jury. However, Samsung seemed to have possibly circumvented that ruling.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

A story from Fox Business stated that Judge Lucy Koh had denied Samsung the presentation of some evidence into the trial, but there were reports that Samsung sent out the evidence to the media, apparently with the intention of presenting the evidence to the jury through news reports in an attempt to undermine Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its claim that Samsung violated patents related to the iPad and iPhone.

Before the jury in the Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) vs. Samsung case was seated for Friday’s proceedings, Judge Koh sent a sharp reprimand in the direction of Samsung lawyers, accusing them of deciding “to possibly taint the jury.” Samsung basically then renewed its objection to the prvious ruling, stating that the information in the press release (the evidence in question) was  already in the public records. Apple moved to have the samsung lawyers reprimanded, but Judge Koh came up short of doing so, but the judge did advise the jury once it was seated Friday that the jury would receive all of the available evidence when it is time to deliberate – there is no record in the report of whether the judge address these particular pieces of evidence specifically, though she apparently did question each juror individually whether they received any information about the case from news reports.  There was no word as to whether any juror did receive information outside of the courtroom, and whether that information compromised the juror’s perspective on the case.

However, it seems pretty sure that if Samsung continues these types of shenanigans, Judge Koh may draw a line in the sand. And it might make one wonder anyway, that if one side feels it needs to skirt a judge’s ruling, wouldn’t that seem to signal weakness in the case?

This case is very important in the technology world, as Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung represent the lions’share of the smartphone market. This case will also be important for investors like billionaire David Einhorn, as he had nearly $1 billion invested in Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock (see the billionaire’s top stock picks here). Apple is also the most popular stock among hedge funds (see the 10 most popular stocks).