At least 50 employees of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) are accused of keeping access to some confidential documents from one of the patent battles between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Samsung. That’s according to a court order spotted by Florian Mueller of Foss Patents.
Apple – Nokia documents exposed
The documents explained the terms of a licensing deal between Apple and Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V). Those terms were supposed to only be disclosed to Samsung’s outside counsel. Currently Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is seeking sanctions against Samsung for allowing its employees to view the confidential documents.
According to the claims, Samsung executive Dr. Seungho Ahn told Nokia that he knew the terms of its deal with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) while negotiating with Nokia for their own licensing terms with the company. He also said referenced a statement made by Nokia’s Chief Intellectual Property Officer Paul Melin. He said Apple had disclosed the licensing deal in its legal battle with Samsung and that Samsung’s outside counsel gave his team the terms of that deal. Dr. Ahn even went so far as to recite the terms of the deal, saying that “all information leaks.”
Dr. Ahn tried to push Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) into making the same deal it did with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), saying that the terms between those two companies should be the same as the terms between Nokia and Samsung. Nokia now says Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) executives unfairly used knowledge of the confidential information to obtain an unfair advantage in the negotiations.
Apple pushes for a sanction against Samsung
The court is now attempting to learn more about exactly how Samsung employees received access to the confidential documents. The court wants to consider all the evidence before deciding whether sanctions should be imposed against Samsung. However, Samsung has not been cooperating with the court as it tries to determine exactly what happened. The company has chosen not to provide sworn testimony from the executives involved.
Lawyers for Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) claim that there is no need for formal discovery into the case and say that the company can’t provide evidence about who had access to the confidential information, what it was used for, and when and where it was used. The court has ordered some emails and communications to be delivered, however, in addition to depositions from Samsung employees who were able to view the documents.
