Samsung Asks Judge to Force Apple to Reveal Details of HTC Agreement

Reuters reports Samsung plans to ask a U.S. judge to coerce Apple into handing over a copy of their recently settled agreement with HTC, as noted in a court filing (via the Verge) today:

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which could face such a sales ban following a crushing jury verdict against it in August, now plans to ask a U.S. judge to force Apple to turn over a copy of the HTC agreement, according to a court filing on Friday.

Representatives for Apple and Samsung could not immediately be reached for comment.

Judges are reluctant to block the sale of products if the dispute can be resolved via a licensing agreement. To secure an injunction against Samsung, Apple must show the copying of its technology caused irreparable harm and that money, by itself, is an inadequate remedy.

According to Reuters, Samsung wants to know if Apple included all of its patents in the deal, specifically the “user experience” patents the Cupertino company has previously said it would not license. The latter would make it harder for Apple to ban the sale of competitors copying its technology.

Samsung wants to know if the patents in the HTC deal include ones they were found guilty of infringing upon. If they are, then Apple should not be able to ban its products since Apple would be showing a “willingness to forego exclusivity in exchange for money”. Samsung is referring to the recent $1.05 billion amount they were forced to award to Apple in the first civil law suit between both companies, which the Korean company feels should be sufficient enough.

Recently, both companies were granted permission by a judge to add further devices from each side to their ongoing patent legal war. The cases continue to get more complex as the second trial is set to take place in 2014.

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