On Wednesday, a U.S. District Court judge approved a request to bar “Anti-Android” statement made by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs from a patent case against Samsung.
Reuters, via AppleInsider:
In seeking to introduce Jobs’ statements in court, Samsung argued in a filing that the thermonuclear quote “speaks to Apple’s bias, improper motives and its lack of belief in its own claims in that they are a means to an end, namely the destruction of Android.”
Apple sought to bar Job’s statements from entering the court proceedings, arguing that his statements were not relevant to the patent struggle at hand.
Jobs was quoted in his biography as saying that Android was a “stolen product” and that he was “willing to go thermonuclear war” against Google’s mobile operating system.
Samsung argued they should be able to introduce the statements in court, saying that the “thermonuclear” quote “speaks to Apple’s bias, improper motives and its lack of believe in its own claims in that they are a means to an end, namely the destruction of Android.”
The full statement from Walter Isaacson’s biography of Jobs reads: “I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”
Apple argued the quotes are inadmissible, and would only serve as a distraction. Judge Koh agreed and said the statements were not germane to the issue on trial.
“I really don’t think this is a trial about Steve Jobs,” Judge Lucy Koh said during the hearing.
Samsung wasn’t a total loser Wednesday, as evidence about Apple’s Chinese operations was deemed eligible for discussion though not in terms of human rights violations.
The Apple vs. Samsung jury trial is set for a July 30 start at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
