Proposed Jury Form for Apple v Samsung Trial

[kdarling]

Here is a link to a PDF of a proposed (not final) jury checklist for the trial.

In it are blocks where the jury can check off what their findings were, on utility and design patent infringements, trade dress, and what amounts if any should be paid by each side.

One section I found interesting was about the design patents and what phones might infringe. I've captured that page and added a cheat sheet on the side showing the patents in question:

 

[decafjava]

Wait so this is a jury trial? Not familiar with patent law, but I thought it was up to judges and experts to decide this. Imagine a bunch of "iSheep" or "Fandroids" on the jury. Though I suppose they would be vetted, my point is what can Joe Public know about patent law???

 

[Heilage]

Bezeled front edge and shiny black front are patents?

Well **** me with a stick and call me Betty, the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

 

[Menel]

Wait so this is a jury trial? Not familiar with patent law, but I thought it was up to judges and experts to decide this. Imagine a bunch of "iSheep" or "Fandroids" on the jury. Though I suppose they would be vetted, my point is what can Joe Public know about patent law???

Apple/Samsung one or both pushed for jury trial.

Its the job of the Jury to ask questions to become informed, and for the lawyers to inform.

Same thing with any trial.

 

[kdarling]

... my point is what can Joe Public know about patent law???

That is exactly why Judge Posner believes that patents should not be decided by regular trials.

As he put it, judges don't know technology and juries are even worse.

Moreover, juries tend to side with the patent holder, not understanding that more than one person can come up with the same idea, and the issue is sometimes simply who patented it first.

And that leads into his opinions, as an IP expert, on whether patents in some industries are useful at all. He has noted that for patents to make sense, you have to have a situation where the inventions wouldn't otherwise be created.

He does not like the idea of patent races, where it's first-takes-all, and good ideas are locked into one owner.