In the fourth day of the Apple vs. Samsung trial on Monday, Samsung Chief Strategy Officer Justin Denison testified that Samsung takes pride in its distinctive designs and as a restless, competitive culture.
However Apple lawyer William Lee pounced after Denison described Samsung’s “hyperbolic,” management style as Samsung’s lawyers referred to an internal email that described a ‘crisis of design’ at the company.
An internal manager’s email distributed at Samsung after the release of Apple’s iPhone has become a key part of Apple’s case. The email describes the difference between the iPhone and Samsung’s devices as “heaven and earth”.
As he cross-examined Denison, Lee walked the witness, and the jurors, through the email, which compared Samsung’s devices unfavorably to the new iPhone.
Objections by Samsung’s lawyers were repeatedly overruled by U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who said Samsung had “opened the door” to such questioning, since Denison himself has discussed the email in earlier testimony.
“All this time we’ve been paying all our attention to Nokia, and concentrated our efforts on things like Folder, Bar, Slide, yet when our [product] is compared to the unexpected competitor Apple’s iPhone, the difference is truly that of Heaven and Earth,” according to the email. “It’s a crisis of design.”
The trial continues this week.
