Apple and Samsung are waging a global war for dominance over mobile devices. And with a U.S. federal judge picking ten jury members, the first battle is set to begin.
In the fight between Apple and Samsung, the two companies have filed lawsuits against each other around the world, each accusing the other of stealing their patents and intellectual property.
In the U.S., Apple sued Samsung claiming that the South Korean company "slavishly" copied their iPhone and iPad, reports Reuters. Samsung counter sued. Yesterday, a federal judge spent hours going through a jury pool examining potential jurors before settling on ten jurors.
Jury selection is perhaps the most critical phase of any litigation. After all, the jury members will ultimately decide the fate of the case. As a result, judges are especially careful in selecting jury members who are fair and do not have preconceived biases against one of the parties.
Given that this lawsuit was filed in San Jose, California, close to the heart of Silicon Valley, Judge Lucy Koh had an especially difficult time finding juror members who did not have some bias.
Of the jury members chosen, there includes an insurance agent, unemployed video game enthusiast, manager for a cycling retailer, a systems engineer, and a payroll and a benefits and payroll manager, reports Reuters. A Google employee did not make the cut, nor did an Apple employee who stated that he hoped his employer would win.
Judge Koh reportedly questioned nearly three dozen members of the jury pool for the Apple Samsung lawsuit. One of the questions she reportedly asked was their choice of phone.
Related Resources:
- Samsung Case Is a Proxy for Google (The Wall Street Journal)
- Judge Rules Apple Must Run 'Samsung Did Not Copy iPad' Ads (FindLaw's Technologist)
- Apple Settles China iPad Trademark Feud for $60M (FindLaw's Technologist)