California judge puts limit on Apple-Samsung patent exhibits

22.06.2012
A California court will limit the number of exhibits Apple and Samsung are able to submit when their multifaceted patent infringement case comes before a jury next month.

"It's going to be 125 exhibits per side. That's it, no more," said Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, during a hearing on Thursday.

Koh has also said of arguments in the jury trial, which is scheduled to begin on July 30.

The conditions are intended to force Apple and Samsung to narrow their arguments to the strongest and most important points. Both sides have already agreed to drop some claims to simplify the case, which spans several patents and gets into arguments over the finer points of some of the technology inside smartphones.

During Thursday's hearing, for example, the companies argued over the way encryption is implemented in Apple products and whether it differs from the 3GPP standard used in 3G cellphones.

The limit on exhibits was announced by Koh after lawyers for Apple and Samsung sought guidance on how much they would be allowed to put in front of a jury.