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In retrial, Apple and Samsung make final pitches to jury
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Nov. 19, 2013 12:11 pm
SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Apple Inc argued in court on Tuesday that Samsung had failed to present meaningful evidence to rebut allegations that the Korean electronics giant had improperly used the iPhone maker's patented technology.
At closing arguments in a San Jose, California federal court, Apple attorney William Lee said Samsung had not produced any senior executives from Korea to testify in a damages retrial between the two companies, while Apple called its marketing chief Phil Schiller to the stand.
However, Samsung attorney William Price said Apple grossly overstated how integral the five patents at trial actually are to the iPhone's value.
Apple and Samsung are engaged in a global litigation battle over patents. Last year, Apple was awarded over $1 billion after it convinced a jury that Samsung copied various iPhone features and design touches, like using your fingers to pinch and zoom the display and the phone's flat, black glass screen.
In March, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh upheld about $600 million of that verdict but ordered a retrial on the rest, ruling that the previous jury had made some errors in its calculations. During the retrial, Apple asked the jury to award$379.8 million, while Samsung argued that it should have to pay $52.7 million.
Samsung manufactures phones that use the Android operating system, which is developed by Google.
In court on Tuesday, Lee urged the six-woman, two-man jury to focus on internal Samsung documents, which tell the real story about what happened.
"Witnesses forget, or in the case of Samsung here, witnesses don't appear," Lee said.
Samsung's Price said Samsung is willing to pay what the law demands. But Samsung should not be forced to overcompensate Apple for design touches that any competitor should be allowed to incorporate, he said.
"Apple doesn't own beautiful and sexy," Price said.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc vs. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, 11-1846.
(Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Alden Bentley and Tim Dobbyn)
People walk past a mobile phone store selling Apple and Samsung products in Wuhan, Hubei province. (REUTERS/Stringer)