14 DAY TRIAL // A motion filed by Apple Monday in the District Court for the Northern District of California asks the judge to deny Samsung’s requests to see the "final, commercial versions" of unreleased Apple hardware, as well as its retail packaging.
Apple sued Samsung in May for "slavishly" copying the design of its iPhone and iPad, both hardware- and software-wise, and requested hard copies of the Korean giant’s Galaxy Tab, Galaxy S II, Droid Charge, and Infuse 4G to better analyze the level of patent infringement.
[admark=1]Samsung, for its part, responded by filing several patent infringement lawsuits against Apple and, most recently, demanded to see the unreleased iPhone 5 / iPhone 4S and iPad 3.
Apple, of course, vehemently opposes such initiative, saying "Rather, it is a transparent and improper attempt to harass Apple by demanding extremely sensitive trade secrets that have no relevance to Apple's infringement claims or to Samsung's defenses to a preliminary injunction."
Given the extent of the complications encountered by both companies since the initial suit filings, there is a good chance the duo will settle, much like the spat between Apple and Nokia.
Hopefully, for Apple, there will be some winning cause this time around as it.
Apple's original filing in Apple v. Samsung can be found here (PDF) courtesy of the Cupertino tech giant’s press room.
In it, Apple outlines that it holds trade dress protection in the design and appearance of the iPhone, the iPod touch, and the iPad, together with their distinctive user interfaces and product packaging.
It also notes that “The iPhone is radically different from the devices that preceded it. It has a distinctive shape and appearance,” which is one of the main points stressed by Apple’s legal department in the dispute with Samsung.