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Apple, Samsung case mapped out by court

After tech giants Apple and Samsung spent months arguing about hearing dates in the Federal Court of New South Wales, the two parties have finally agreed to an extensive schedule that will span from July to October.
Written by Luke Hopewell, Contributor

After tech giants Apple and Samsung spent months arguing about hearing dates in the Federal Court of New South Wales, the two parties have finally agreed to an extensive schedule that will span from July to October.

Fight

(Fight Club image by Polina Sergeeva, CC2.0)

The case pertains to the patent-infringement claims brought against Samsung by Apple in relation to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The case also contains a cross-claim filed by Samsung against Apple, claiming patent infringement in its range of iPhone and iPad products.

The two parties spent several days in court, arguing over the order of the hearings, after Apple rejected a deal proposed by Samsung that would see the case separated into several separate tranches. At stake are three matters: patents relating to 3G technology that Samsung claims have been used without permission; the ability to use the technology under a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licence; and issues of competition law.

According to orders set out by Justice Annabelle Bennett, Samsung will have to file its defence by 1 April before Apple responds to the defence with a deadline of 16 April.

On the invalidity argument and its cross-claim, Samsung will have until 16 May to file documents. Apple must then file its defence against the cross-claim by 30 May.

The two parties will have a case-management conference on 18 May before hearings get under way on 9 July. The two parties have 35 sessions scheduled before Justice Bennett in the Federal Court.

The final hearing in the case will conclude on 12 October.

Michael Lee contributed to this report.

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