Frustrated judge lashes out at Apple, Samsung

On Thursday morning, Judge Koh readied her court for the end of Samsung’s evidence presentation and the beginning of Apple’s rebuttal case against Samsung:

“I am pathologically optimistic that this is going to settle.”

Koh told both parties to file their motions on judgment as a matter of law by Saturday morning. When Apple sued Samsung for patent infringement, Samsung countersued and requested that their patent infringement case against Apple be combined for one jury trial.

Samsung started the day by presenting expert testimony about damages Apple owes on Samsung patents and disputing Apple’s requests for damages. Koh reminded Samsung that their lack of time was due to their strategic error, as they spent half of their trial time questioning Apple’s witnesses.

Koh also had harsh words for Apple counsel when she was asked to deliver an order on 75 pages of information about the long list of Apple rebuttal witnesses. Koh told Apple counsel Bill Lee that unless he were smoking crack, he knows Apple could not possibly call all of the witnesses on the list. Lee quickly responded:

“Your honor, I’m not smoking crack.”

With less than an hour of trial time left, Samsung chose to pass cross examinations for the majority of the experts Apple brought to counter claims that Apple products were infringing on Samsung patents.

Samsung now will need to sit through more Apple testimony, as Apple still has not brought witnesses to talk about the antitrust claims Apple added after Samsung sued them.

Apple should spend about four hours on Friday concluding its case. Settlement seems unlikely before closing arguments to be held on Tuesday, and Judge Koh is reluctant to allow any issues to be decided before the jury gets a chance to look at them during next week’s deliberations.