On Wednesday, a federal judge ordered Apple to show Samsung the details of its agreement with HTC. That agreement brought an end to litigation between the parties, by forging a ten-year patent cross-licensing deal.
Apple v. Samsung Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal handed down the order granting Samsung’s motion to compel, forcing Apple to reveal an unredacted version of its HTC settlement that will be attorney’s-eyes-only, meaning the details will likely remain out of public purview.
Samsung had argued it needed the complete unredacted version of the agreement, as the included licensing terms were needed to effectively oppose Apple’s bid for a number of permanent injunctions. The Korean electronics giant said the information would be useful in supporting its argument for a royalty settlement as opposed to a permanent sales ban.
HTC had filed a response to Samsung’s initial motion, saying it would be harmed if it were to divulge the Apple settlement details. Judge Grewal said the court was “not persuaded” by HTC’s assertions, going on to say that even thought the court was “more than a little skeptical” of Samsung’s own arguments they are covered under Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which describes the “duty to disclose; general provisions governing discovery.”
Apple and HTC had previously agreed to disclose a version of the settlement with all financial details redacted.
The Apple vs. Samsung post-trial proceedings will continue when the all parties meet on December 6th. The companies will then discuss their respective motions.
