Apple Executives Were ‘Shocked’ by Samsung Galaxy, Witness Says

 

Steve Jobs, Apple Inc.’s late co-founder, confronted Samsung Electronics Co. executives in 2010 after the South Korean company introduced its Galaxy smartphone, Apple’s patent licensing director testified….

Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) –Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s late co- founder, confronted Samsung (005930) Electronics Co. executives in 2010 after the South Korean company introduced its Galaxy smartphone, Apple’s patent licensing director testified.

Boris Teksler, director of patent licensing and strategy, was called as a witness yesterday in Apple’s multibillion-dollar intellectual property trial against Samsung in federal court in San Jose, California. He said Apple made a presentation to Samsung executives in August 2010 intended to warn the company against copying the iPhone.

“We were quite shocked,” he said. “They were a trusted partner of ours and we didn’t know how a trusted partner would build a product like that.”

Apple sued Samsung in April 2011. Apple and Samsung are the world’s largest makers of the high-end handheld devices that blend the functionality of a phone and a computer. The trial is the first before a U.S. jury in a battle being waged on four continents for dominance in a smartphone market valued by Bloomberg Industries at $219.1 billion.

While the companies are bound by lucrative commercial ties, each is trying to convince jurors that its rival infringed patents covering designs and technology.

During cross-examination, Teksler confirmed that he wasn’t at the August 2010 meeting. He also acknowledged that at least five of the seven Apple patents at issue in the trial didn’t appear on a list Apple identified to Samsung in the 2010 presentation.

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Tags: Apple, iPhone, patent, Samsung

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