Washington, November 11 – A judge has said Samsung probably violated a court-ordered agreement to keep Apple documents secret. Judge Paul Grewal said that it does look like the order was breached and ‘sanctions against Samsung and its attorneys are warranted.’
According to the Verge, Apple gave Samsung copies of confidential patent licensing agreements with Nokia, Ericsson, Sharp, and Philips as part of the legal discovery process.
The court issued a protective order that said the information could only be used by litigation counsel in the context of the patent case, the report said.
But Samsung also used the information to gain a competitive advantage in the market, Apple claimed.
Samsung leaked the documents to more than 90 employees in its company and 130 unauthorized lawyers.
According to the report, Samsung has admitted that proper protocol wasn’t followed, but claims it was an ‘inadvertent disclosure’ and deeply apologized.
Nokia joined Apple’s motion for sanctions. Nokia’s chief intellectual property officer, Paul Melin, said Samsung executive Dr. Seungho Ahn tried to use the Nokia-Apple licensing agreement as leverage in negotiating a Nokia-Samsung agreement, the report added.
According to the report, Grewal has asked Apple and Nokia to present recommendations for punishment, and told Samsung to prepare a defense.
A hearing is scheduled for December 9th.
–Indiatoday
