It’s possible that U.S. Judge Lucy Koh, presiding judge over the two California patent cases between Samsung and Apple, may put the second suit on hold until an appeals court comes to a decision on the first case.
According to in court reports from Reuters, Judge Koh asked counsel for both parties if an upcoming utility patent suit should be suspended until after an appeal regarding the Apple v. Samsung verdict has been reached. The appeal pertains to the jurist’s decision to deny Apple’s request to ban certain Samsung handsets following the Apple v. Samsung jury trial.
A ruling in the first case is not expected until at least September, while the utility patent suit is slated for March 2014.
Koh has suggested to the two parties that their legal struggles could cover both lawsuits, saying, “I just don’t know if we really need two cases on this.”
Apple attorney William Lee responded by arguing that both cases should proceed as planned, saying that different patents have been asserted in each suit. Victoria Maroulis, Samsung’s counsel, disagreed, with the claim that “overlap” between the two should be enough to suspend the second complaint.
Both parties were ordered to consider Judge Koh’s suggestions, and give official decisions by March 7th.
