Apple Claims 'Serious Misconduct' By Samsung Over Leaked Documents

According to a report from The Verge, Apple filed a request with U.S. Judge Lucy Koh Thursday asking Samsung be found guilty of infringing on its iPhone and iPad patents, in an effort to strike back against Samsung after it released rejected trial evidence to the media this week.

"Samsung apparently believes that it is above the law, and that it -- not this Court -- should decide what evidence the jury should see," Apple said in the filing. "Yesterday, the Court once again rejected Samsung's attempt to introduce evidence related to a defense that was not timely disclosed to Apple. Undaunted, and apparently unwilling to accept the Court's ruling, Samsung chose self-help to get its excluded evidence before the jury."

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The evidence in question is a document released this week that suggests Apple's early iPhone designs borrowed concepts from Sony. Former Apple designer Shin Nishibori was allegedly instructed by Apple higher-ups to reference Sony's designs while creating its own smartphone prototypes, the document claims. Samsung's legal team hoped to use this evidence to prove that Apple is just as much as a copy-cat as it alleges Samsung to be.

The evidence was rejected by Judge Koh because it was introduced too late into the trial, but the documents were leaked into the media, a move that Apple dubbed "serious misconduct" on Samsung's part. As a result, Apple requested the court sanction Samsung.

"This press statement wrongly calls into question the very integrity of the Court and the judicial process, and undermines Apple's fundamental right to a fair trial by impartial jurors uninfluenced by extrajudicial statements," Apple wrote in the filing. "The Court should not condone this behavior; the Court can, and should, severely sanction it."

Apple said that dismissing the case and issuing a verdict in its favor is the only way to "fully rectify the harm" that Samsung has caused.

Samsung, in response, has deemed Apple's recommendation for a sanction "frivolous," since the leaked Sony documents only fell into the hands of the media, not the actual jury. According to a separate report from The Register, Samsung said Apple's reaction to the documents is an insult to the integrity of the jury, implying that the jury would see the barred evidence and be influenced by it.

Samsung and Apple kicked off court proceedings Monday in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, with each seeking financial damages from the other for alleged patent infringement. Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, one of the devices Apple said infringes on its patents for the iPad, is temporarily banned in the U.S., pending further deliberation of the court.

PUBLISHED AUG. 3, 2012