Jury chosen in Apple-Samsung patent trial
SAN JOSE — A patent-infringement trial pitting Apple Inc. against Samsung Electronics Co. kicked off Monday in federal court in San Jose with the selection of three women and seven men for the jury. Opening statements are expected Tuesday.
Prospective jurors were grilled about whether they had friends who worked at Apple or other tech companies; the brands of their cellphones and tablet computers; and what books they had read concerning Apple or Samsung.
The selection process took place in a fifth-floor courtroom in front of U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh, with dozens of prospective jurors sitting in several rows of seats usually used by spectators. A smaller courtroom next door held about 70 reporters and members of the public.
The high-profile case is expected to last four weeks, with most of the proceedings scheduled for Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Koh told the prospective jurors that she expected testimony to end Aug. 21 or 24, with jury deliberations to begin after that.
Apple and Samsung have been lobbing patent-infringement claims against each other for months as they compete in the fast-growing mobile-device industry. They are the world’s two largest makers of smartphones.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has accused its South Korean rival of “slavishly” copying many aspects of its mobile devices and is seeking $2.525 billion in damages for what it calls “irreparable harm” to its business. Apple has repeatedly said it is “no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad.”
Samsung maintains that it did not steal ideas from Apple, accusing that company of infringing on its technology patents instead.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
