Wednesday Apple Rumors: Samsung Accuses Apple Attorney of Racism

Advertisement

daily apple rumors AAPLHere are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:

Courtroom Drama: The legal battle between Samsung and Apple over patent infringement damages took an odd turn during closing arguments, CNET notes. Last year, a jury found Samsung guilty of infringing on several Apple patents in older smartphones, awarding the iPhone-maker $1 billion in damages. U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh later trimmed that to $600 million and ordered a new trial to assess additional damages. The new trail began last week with Apple demanding $379 million in damages. Yesterday, Apple attorney Harold McEhlinny summed up Apple’s case against Samsung, noting that when U.S. TV manufacturers failed to defend their patents from infringement, overseas competitors ultimately overpowered them. “Our economy will disappear” McElhinny told jurors, unless patent infringement is punished. Samsung’s attorneys immediately denounced the suggestion as racist and said it could prejudice jurors against the South Korean electronics maker. They repeatedly requested that the judge declare a mistrial over the comments. Judge Koh denied the requests, but noted that “some remedy might be appropriate to avoid further issues later on.” The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Wednesday. For his part, McElhinny insisted “I did not say a word about race.” Judge Koh indicated that she would instruct the jury to avoid prejudice during deliberations.

Penalty: A former stock trader will spend more than two years in jail for fraudulently purchasing a large amount of Apple shares, Reuters notes. David Miller pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud after federal prosecutors charged him with purchasing 1.6 million shares without authorization while employed at Rochdale Securities. Miller made the purchased after a client ordered him to buy 1,625 shares prior to a quarterly earnings report. Hoping to profit on an expected rise in share prices after the earnings release, Miller placed and order for 1,000 times as many shares, a trade valued at more than $1 billion. When prices did not climb as expected the illicit transaction was exposed and Rochdale Securities was hit with $5.3 million in losses, causing its collapse. Miller was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his actions.

All Go: On Tuesday, Apple received the final clearance to build its new headquarters complex in Cupertino, Calif., AppleInsider notes. After the city council delivered a unanimous approval for the project, Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney officially gave Apple the go ahead to begin work on the new campus, whose enormous circular central building its said to resemble a spaceship. Plans for the new complex were developed under late CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs. The main building will feature 2.8 million square feet of office and lab space. It will ultimately house more than 12,000 Apple employees and is expected to be finished in 2016.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2013/11/wednesday-apple-rumors-samsung-accuses-apple-attorney-racism/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC