Who’s gaming who at Apple vs. Samsung?

SAN JOSE – Attorneys for Apple and Samsung pointed fingers suggesting the other is playing games behind the scenes at their $2.5 billion patent infringement trial here. Charges flew after the jury was excused for a lunch break here following testimony from an expert who said Apple infringes three Samsung cameraphone and music patents.

“While we are in court here we are getting disclosed on 20 [new Samsung] witnesses-- we are getting gamed here,” Apple’s lead attorney told Judge Lucy H. Koh.

“I don’t see what you are complaining about--they are following the same procedure you followed the last two weeks,” Koh replied.

“They don’t have time to call all these witnesses,” responded the Apple attorney noting both sides have used more than 14 of the 25 hours each is allotted before the nine-person jury. “This is an effort to disguise who is actually going to be called,” he charged.

Judge Koh declined to change any procedures for deadlines about disclosing a rolling list of seven witnesses to be called. “Anything else—I’m afraid to ask,” Koh said.

Apple also objected to video Samsung plans to submit of a deposition that shows a product mock up. Apple requested the mock up be presented in court so the evidence could be examined because another witness will testify about the mock up.

“It seems like cross examination fodder to me,” said Koh.

A Samsung attorney noted the witness wanted to attend and bring the mock up. However his company is currently in unspecified negotiations with Apple and e currently now refuses to testify in person, forcing Samsung to reply onj the deopisition video.

The exchange left open questions about the nature of the mock up and expected testimony on it as well as the Apple talks with the witnesses company.

“That video is coming in,” the judge ruled.

Earlier today Woodward Yang, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Harvard testified as an expert witness for Samsung. He said Apple’s iPhone 4, 3GS and 3G infringe three of the Korean giants patents.

The patents include US7,577,460 on sending pictures in a mobile email, US7.456,893 on saving a bookmark in a photo gallery and US7,698,711 on playing background music on a handset.

“The patents are valid and the accused Apple devices infringe those patents,” said Yang who helped develop one of the first CMOS imagers for a camerphone while at Hyundai Electronics.

Under cross examination, Apple attorney Bill Lee tried to raise doubts about whether the iPhones infringe the patents given the wording in the claims and the exact sequence set out in one of the claims.

He also noted court documents in which Samsung admitted it does not use any of the patents in its current handsets.

“Samsung [shipped] 65 smartphones over the last three years and of all those 65 products it could not identify a single one--not one--that practices these very important inventions described today,” Lee said.

Lee also recalled p-ages from an internal Samsung presentation shown earlier in which Samsung compares its S1 phone in development to the iPhone in areas including use of the cameraphone.

“When it came time for Samsung to design the camera function for its smartphone, rather than look to its patents they looked to the iPhone,” he charged.