SAN JOSE, Calif.—Apple Inc.'s AAPL +1.85% patent case against Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE -3.72% moved closer to its final stages Friday, as the two tech titans presented their last witnesses in the high-stakes patent trial.
Apple and Samsung concluded their cases Friday by bringing in a mix of industry experts to discuss technical details of the patents Samsung claims are being violated, and to rebut witness testimony.
The nine-member jury is scheduled to begin deliberations next week after closing arguments and instructions from the judge.
Though the Cupertino, Calif., company started the legal battle with its lawsuit filing against Samsung last year, Samsung has fired back by accusing Apple of infringing its patents, such as those for handling photographs in an email and one regarding wireless transmissions.
On Friday, Apple called to the stand Hyong Kim and Edward Knightly, both engineering and technology professors, who described how Samsung's patents could be invalid in some cases, and how Apple's own devices don't infringe them in others.
One flash point in the case has erupted outside the courtroom, in an continuing debate within the technology industry about patents that are part of agreed-upon standards, such as 3G wireless technology.
Standards bodies allow companies to claim their patents are essential for creating products that use a technical standard, but in doing so the companies also agree to license those patents in a fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory way.
Apple has alleged that Samsung, which is based in South Korea, has failed to follow that agreement, leading to inquiries by regulators in Europe, and comments from those in the U.S. as well.
As part of its argument in court, Apple brought Michael Walker, a former chairman of a European telecommunications standards body, to the stand to discuss Samsung's alleged failure to disclose its patents to standards bodies in a reasonable time frame.
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