Apparently, Samsung has allegedly used information from its own legal team that had highly confidential information relating to Apple’s licensing agreements with Nokia, Ericsson, Sharp and Philips.
Therefore, a federal district court judge has ordered Samsung to produce communications and witnesses related to the dissemination of confidential Apple licensing agreements to Samsung employees by Oct. 16.
According to the judge on the case:
-The information was highly confidential and was not fully redacted before it was sent by attorney’s to Samsung.
-It may, may not, have been intentional, but the information included terms for four Apple license agreements.
-It was accessed by Samsung employees through a FTP server and given to someone high up in Samsung’s licensing executive team.
-Samsung used the information to gain an unfair advantage in negotiations with Nokia, according to Nokia’s chief intellectual property officer, Paul Melin. But, Samsung has not produced any evidence to the contrary hence, the judge’s order.
This may cost Samsung big bucks. And, it could hurt Samsung in future legal battles. And, while everyone agrees that Samsung is probably not making a habit of this sort of thing and the whole thing could have been inadvertent, it is a giant PR headache for the Korean giant.
The whole of Judge Paul Grewal’s order can be read here. It is full of very specific detail on this case.
