A US District Judge has denied Apple’s request to seal many of the documents it used to make its damages case again Samsung. Judge Lucy Koh says Apple cannot both use its financial data to seek multi-billion dollar damages and product injunctions and keep that data a secret.
Apple’s motion seeks to permanently enjoin the sale of 26 Samsung products that have already been on the market for varying lengths of time, and seeks an enhancement of $535 million on top of the $1.05 billion in damages awarded by the jury. Such remedies would have a profound effect on the smartphone industry, consumers, and the public. As the extensive media coverage indicates, this is a truly extraordinary case of exceptional interest to the public. Apple’s reasons would have to be very compelling indeed to overcome the unsually robust public interest in access.
Apple’s says this information is part of its trade secrets and revealing it would give rivals a competitive advantage. Koh doesn’t think that’s good enough. However, she has agreed to a temporary stay pending federal court appeal.
If this goes through, Apple’s going to have to cough up key numbers like product-specific unit sales, revenue, profit, profit margin and cost data.
Image Credit: Forbes
