Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said Samsung's attempts to force it to give Samsung's outside counsel access to unreleased versions of its iPhone and iPad tablet amount to harassment, according to recent legal filings Apple made as part of an ongoing patent dispute between the two companies.
Apple filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to deny that request, arguing that Samsung's request goes beyond a similar one Apple made in the case to get access to products Samsung had announced but not released.
The filing, in which Apple refers to Samsung as the "copyist," is another step in the legal battle between the companies, which compete heavily in smartphones and tablets. Apple said in its filing that Samsung's motion "is an improper attempt to harass Apple by demanding production of extremely sensitive trade secrets that have no relevance to Apple's likelihood of success on its infringement claims or to a preliminary injunction motion." A hearing on Samsung's request is expected Friday.
In May, a federal judge ordered Samsung to give Apple's lawyers access to the Android-based Droid Charge, Galaxy S II and Infuse 4G smartphones, as well as two tablets, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Tab 10.1. Apple had asked for the products to see if they should be part of the lawsuit.
Apple sued Samsung in April, arguing Samsung's smartphones and tablets "slavishly" copied Apple products and trademarks. Samsung promptly countersued, arguing that it was Apple that was infringing.
For more:
- see this ZDNet article
- see this FOSS Patents post
- see this Crunchgear post
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