삼성-애플 美 새 배심원, 과반수가...

Published : Apr 1, 2014 - 12:04 Updated : Apr 1, 2014 - 14:45

삼성-애플 미국 특허 소송전에 배석될 배심원 10명이 1일 (한국시간) 확정되면서 소송전의 새로운 변수로 떠오를지 세간의 긴장이 고조되고 있다.

외신에 따르면 새로 선정된 미국 배심원 10명 중 과반수인 6명이 여성이며, 배심원 전원은캘리포니아 주 산 호세에서 루시 고 판사가 주재한 재판에 배석해 “열린 마음과 증거에 근거한 엄정한 판단”을 내리겠다는 배심원 선서를 마쳤다.

그러나 앞서 배심원 최종 심사 과정에서 애플에 정서적 친근감을 가질 확률이 큰 배심원 후보자들이 줄줄이 발견된 전적이 있어 재판의 편향성에 대한 우려의 목소리는 여전히 높다.

그 예로 소송에 배석될 예정이었던 한 배심원 후보는 애플의 탄생지나 다름없는 쿠퍼티노 시 출신이며 애플 창업자인 고 스티브 잡스의 위인전을 읽었다는 점이 논란이 됐다. 이에 삼성 측 변호인인 빌 프라이스가 일부 배심원들이 지역 감정으로 애플에 유리한 판단을 할 공산이 크다며 이의를 제기하자 고 판사가 이를 받아들여 해당 배심원을 배제한 바 있다.

이 밖에도 배심원들의 토의 과정에서 나온 이야기 대부분이 애플에 관한 것이었다며 미국인 배심원들이 삼성 제품에 대한 이해도가 지나치게 저조하다는 문제가 제기됐다.

한편, 금번 소송은 스마트폰과 타블릿 PC의 특허권을 두고 스마트기기의 양대 산맥인 삼성과 애플 간에 벌어진 가장 최근의 법적 분쟁으로, 원고는 애플, 피고는 삼성전자 본사, 삼성전자 미국법인, 삼성전자 통신부문 미국법인 등이다. 이에 맞서 삼성이 애플을 상대로 제소한 특허권 침해 소송도 함께 심리되는 만큼 팽팽한 법정 공방이 예상된다.

애플은 삼성이 밀어서 잠금 해제, 자동 완성, 전화번호 화면 일부분을 눌러 전화 걸기, 통합 검색, 데이터 동기화 등 5개 특허를 침해했다고 주장하며 기기당 40달러의 로열티 지급을 청구할 방침이다. 애플의 청구권이 받아들여지면 삼성으로부터 해당 기기에 관해 총 20억 달러의 로열티를 청구할 수 있을 것으로 예상된다.

반면 삼성전자는 디지털 화상과 음성 데이터에 대한 기록 및 재생 관련 기술, 원격 화상 전송 시스템에 관한 2건의 특허권을 주장해 애플과 맞설 예정이다.

코리아헤럴드 정주원 기자 (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)

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Apple vs Samsung case to start before fresh jury

Jurors were selected Monday for a high-stakes patent battle between smartphone rivals Apple and Samsung, setting the stage for attorneys to open fire regarding who copied innovations.

The case concerns smartphone and tablet patents and is just the latest in a long-running feud between the two tech giants battling for supremacy in a multibillion-dollar market.

Apple and Samsung lawyers will begin opening remarks Tuesday before of the freshly-chosen panel of 10 jurors and US District Court Judge Lucy Koh in the California city of San Jose.

The jury of six women and four men promised Koh they would keep open minds and only consider evidence presented in her courtroom.

Koh presided over a trial last year that ended with a jury declaring Samsung owed Apple more than a billion dollars in damages for infringing patents with some older model Android-powered devices.

The damages award was later trimmed to $929 million and is being appealed.

If this new trial goes in Apple's favor, it could result in an even bigger award since it involves better-selling Samsung devices built with Google-backed Android software.

Unlike last year's trial, this one takes aim at devices still on the market, such as the Galaxy S3 from Samsung's flagship line and iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S.

During a day-long interview process for weeding out potentially biased jurors, candidates were asked what devices they or their relatives owned.

- Jurors iPhone users –

Jury candidates rattled off arrays of iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macintosh computers, with scant mention of Samsung devices other than television sets or DVD players.

"You are going to hear that Samsung sold a lot of smartphones," Samsung attorney Bill Price said while questioning the panel.

"Looking at you folks it may be hard to believe. I am getting Apple, Apple, Apple."

Price pressed prospective jurors about whether they would favor local company Apple with its headquarters a short distance away in Cupertino over South Korea-based Samsung.

One prospective juror from Apple's home city of Cupertino conceded she had an "affinity" for Apple and had read the biography of legendary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

At the behest of Samsung, she was excused by the judge.

Potential jurors were also asked to share their thoughts about Google, the Internet titan behind Android software powering Samsung smartphones at issue in the patent trial.

Google engineers are among those on the witness list for the proceedings. While Apple has yet to attack Google directly in court, the accusations in the trial here involve features built into Android.

Apple lawyers told Koh that they planned to call the company's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller as their first witness.

Apple will get to present its case first.

Koh is allowing each side 25 hours to present evidence to make its case to jurors

Apple filed the suit against the South Korean consumer electronics behemoth in February 2012 as "one action in a worldwide constellation of litigation between the two companies," the judge said in a ruling prior to jury selection.

Patents at issue in the case involve unlocking touchscreens with gestures, automatically correcting words being typed, retrieving data sought by users and performing actions on found data such as making a call after coming up with a phone number.

- Samsung counters -

Apple argued in filings that a Google Quick Search Box in the Android-powered Galaxy Nexus steals from patented technology used by virtual assistant Siri to answer queries in the iPhone.

Samsung devices targeted by Apple include more than half a dozen smartphones from the Galaxy line, along with the Galaxy 2 tablet.

Samsung is countering with claims that Apple infringes on its patented technology for data transmission, imaging, audio and video in iPhone, iPad, iPod and Macintosh computer models.

Apple has maintained publicly that its patent battles are about "innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love," and not about money.

At a hearing early this year, Apple demanded that Samsung pay $40 per smartphone incorporating its patented technology, according to court records.

Any triumph at the trial would likely result in a demand that infringing products be banned from sale in the US.

And a ruling that patents were infringed upon would also provide legal ammunition to fire shots at newer smartphone models or even those yet to be released, if they contain the same technology. (AFP)