A federal judge today denied Samsung's request for a new trial against based on allegations of jury misconduct.
The South Korean electronics giant had asked that Apple's billion-dollar verdict be thrown out and the case be heard again, arguing it was tainted by the jury foreman's failure to disclose previous litigation with Seagate Technology, a company in which Samsung is a major investor, as well as an alleged bias made evident by statements made to the media after the verdict.
In seeking to have an August 24 verdict overturned that found Samsung liable for about $1.05 billion in damages arising from software patents on mobile devices, Samsung argued that jury foreman Velvin Hogan was deliberately dishonest during jury questioning. Samsung said Hogan should have revealed to the judge during jury selection that he had been sued by Seagate -- his former employer -- which led to his filing for personal bankruptcy in 1993.
"Samsung has a substantial strategic relationship with Seagate, which culminated last year in the publicized sale of a division to Seagate in a deal worth $1.375 billion, making Samsung the single largest direct shareholder of Seagate," the company said in its October motion. "Mr. Hogan's failure to disclose the Seagate suit raises issues of bias that Samsung should have been allowed to explore in questioning."
Samsung also pointed to statements made by Hogan in a post-verdict interviews with Reuters in which he said "the jury 'wanted to send a message to the industry at large that patent infringing is not the right thing to do, not just Samsung,'" and that the "message [the jury] sent was not just a slap on the wrist."
However, Lucy Koh, the U.S. District Court judge presiding over the patent case, noted that anything Hogan said about legal standards used during deliberations, or the jurors' mental process, were barred by federal evidence rules. The 20-page judgment (see below) was part of a pair of rulings Koh handed down late this evening. She also denied Apple's bid to ban a number of Samsung's devices from sale in the U.S.
"Even if the standards related by Mr. Hogan were completely erroneous, those statements would still be barred, by Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b) and cannot be considered in deciding whether to hold an evidentiary hearing," Koh said.
In regards to the disclosure issue, Koh also blamed Samsung for not asking Hogan the proper questions to reveal any alleged bias against Seagate.
"Samsung could have uncovered the Seagate lawsuit, or at least Mr. Hogan's feelings regarding Seagate, had it exercised reasonable diligence in questioning Mr. Hogan during its allotted time in voir dire," she said. "Moreover, even without asking Mr. Hogan directly, Samsung could have exercised reasonable diligence outside of trial and could have discovered the lawsuit by requesting the bankruptcy file, exactly as Samsung did later, when it became motivated to do so."
CNET has contacted Samsung for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
The orders represent the first major ones to come out of the court since the trial wrapped up in August. Still expected is a ruling from Koh that could change the damages tally. During the three and a half hour long hearing earlier this month, Apple made its bid to increase damages while Samsung predictably argued to lower them."
Samsung loses bid for new trial after Apple's $1B verdict
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Samsung loses bid for new trial after Apple's $1B verdict
