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Samsung denied access to iPhone 5, iPad 3 prototypes
Stephen Tenerowicz
A United States federal judge has ruled that Samsung cannot preview Apple's next-generation iPad and iPhone
A possible iPhone 5 prototype
Published on Jun 22, 2011
According to patent blog FOSS Patents, a judge in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California has denied Samsung's request to have access to Apple’s next-generation iPad and iPhone products.
For those in the dark here, the request for access came out of Apple's legal battle with Samsung. The whole debacle started when Apple began accusing Samsung of creating copycat products back in April. As such, the company asked the Korean firm to produce its next-generation devices inside a court room.
The court took Apple’s side and Samsung was forced to show Apple the Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G, and DROID Charge. In an effort to prepare for further legal battles with Apple, Samsung wanted the same access to the iPad 3 and the iPhone 5.
For now, though, it appears that access won’t happen.
The reasoning behind the judge’s decision appears to be that Samsung had already showed off its products to members of the press and others. Apple's prototypes were top secret.
No other rulings were issued today and the case is set to go to trial soon. A trial date will hopefully be set sometime next week.
