Apple Granted Access to Unreleased Samsung Hardware in Patent Suit

galaxy tab 8 9

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9

Last month, Apple filed suit against Samsung, claiming patent and trademark infringement from Samsung having allegedly copied Apple's "technology, user interface and innovative style" in its Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets.

Courthouse News Service now reports that a federal judge has given Samsung 30 days in which to provide Apple with samples of a number of unreleased hardware models in order to assist Apple with determining whether it would like to request an early injunction to halt the claimed infringement.

Samsung Electronics was told Wednesday to fork over five of its not-yet-released mobile phones to Apple. Sitting in Federal Court in San Jose, Judge Lucy Koh ruled that Apple deserves the quick production of cell phone samples three months earlier than usual in the litigation process, though she drew the line at requiring testimony from Samsung executives.

"Apple has demonstrated good cause for some, limited expedited discovery," said Koh. "While Apple has not yet filed a motion for preliminary injunction, courts have found that expedited discovery may be justified to allow a plaintiff to determine whether to seek an early injunction," said Koh.

The Samsung models in question include the Galaxy S2, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G, and Droid Charge.

While the models have yet to be officially released to the public and Samsung has argued that examination of production samples that may not necessarily reflect final shipping versions is inappropriate, Koh noted that the argument is undermined by Samsung's publicity efforts that have seen images and even demo units handed out to members of the media. In one noteworthy example, 5,000 Galaxy Tab 10.1s were given away to attendees at the Google I/O conference earlier this month.

Popular Stories

mac mini thermal architecture feature

New Mac Mini Has Modular Storage, 256GB Model Will Have Faster SSD

Friday November 8, 2024 7:06 am PST by
Apple has returned to using two 128GB storage chips in the new Mac mini with 256GB of storage, according to a partial teardown video shared on social media today. This means the base-model Mac mini with the M4 chip will not have significantly slower SSD speeds compared to higher-end configurations of the computer with 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage, as multiple NAND chips allows for faster SSD...
best buy holiday

Best Buy Reveals Black Friday Plans With Sitewide Sales Available Now

Friday November 8, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Black Friday sales are continuing today with Best Buy kicking off early Black Friday deals that will last for the next few days. Similar to other retailers, Best Buy's early Black Friday event includes sitewide savings on Apple products, headphones, TVs, monitors, video games, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may...
iphone passcode green

Cops Suspect iOS 18 iPhones Are Communicating to Force Reboots, Making Unlocking Harder

Thursday November 7, 2024 2:20 pm PST by
Law enforcement officials in Detroit, Michigan are warning other police officers about an alleged iPhone change that causes Apple devices stored for forensic examination to spontaneously restart, reports 404 Media. iPhones that are undergoing examination have apparently been rebooting, which makes them harder to unlock with brute force methods, and Michigan police think that it's due to a...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.2 Beta 2

Monday November 4, 2024 12:34 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 updates to developers, and Apple is continuing to refine the Apple Intelligence capabilities. There are also a handful of smaller features that are worth knowing about. Find My Find My has a new option to Share Item Location with an "airline or trusted person" that can help you locate something that you've misplaced....
M4 MacBook Pros Thumb

M4 MacBook Pro Reviews: Processor Benchmarks Impress, New Nano-Texture Option Worth the Extra $150

Thursday November 7, 2024 6:14 am PST by
The first wave of reviews of Apple's new M4-powered MacBook Pro models were published this morning. We've collected some of the latest impressions from YouTube channels and select media outlets below. Apple last month announced the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding next-generation M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, with Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display and camera ...
High Power Mode Feature 2

Apple Expands High Power Mode to MacBook Pro and Mac Mini Models With M4 Pro Chip

Thursday November 7, 2024 12:15 pm PST by
High Power Mode is available on the 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini models with the M4 Pro chip, according to Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham. The feature was previously limited to Macs with Apple's highest-end "Max" chip, so this is the first time it is available on Macs with a "Pro" chip. This is the second time that Apple has expanded availability of High Power...
early apple watch black friday

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Watch Deals

Wednesday November 6, 2024 6:33 am PST by
Black Friday is just around the corner, and Apple Watch deals have begun appearing ahead of the shopping holiday on November 29. In this article, we'll take a look at all of the best early Black Friday Apple Watch deals, including the new Series 10 models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...
iOS 18 Notes Feature

How to Fix iPhone Notes Disappearing After Accepting New iCloud Terms

Thursday November 7, 2024 7:57 am PST by
Apple in September updated its iCloud terms and conditions with some minor changes, and this week it has been notifying iPhone users that they must accept the revised terms in order to continue using iCloud. Unfortunately, after accepting the new terms, some iPhone users have seen all of their notes disappear in the Notes app. While some users have turned to social media to justifiably panic ...

Top Rated Comments

Aduntu Avatar
176 months ago
Oh, Steve. You bully customers, you bully poorly paid Foxconn employees, you bully your vendors, and you bully your competitors.
What's the point in working hard to innovate if you're just going to let others blatantly copy your work without repercussion?
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sciwizam Avatar
176 months ago
Also, while it might not be relevant to this case, I wonder how Apple would react if the situation is reversed and they had to provide access to their unreleased hardware.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BC2009 Avatar
176 months ago
When you can no longer innovate....litigate.

I think the fact that Samsung is trying to copy Apple at every turn points to the fact that Samsung is the one who is failing to innovate. Many great gadget designs have come from HP and Motorola and great UI designs as well from the likes of Microsoft, Motorola and HTC. The fact that Samsung is copying Apple's design is sad.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
*LTD* Avatar
176 months ago
Lol at everyone crying about bullies. If you were in Apple's position you'd do the exact same thing. And if you didn't, your shareholders would hang you.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NebulaClash Avatar
176 months ago
Once again people are picking sides based on personal likes or dislikes about products and companies. Sorry, but this is being decided by laws. Apple has a legal obligation to protect its intellectual property or else they lose it. The courts have to decide on the basis what the law says, not which phone the judge likes. Apple won this preliminary step because the law said they should. It is only a small step of a much larger legal picture. The judge just felt Apple's legal argument carried weight.

Now go back to your cheerleading one side or the other based on everything but the law.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ciTiger Avatar
176 months ago
Sammy can't be happy lol...
So many people saying Apple had nothing... Well it turns out it may have something yet...
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)