Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL): Samsung seeks to prohibit from contacting jurors

Samsung Electronics has told a federal court that rival Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) should not be allowed contact with jurors as it had influenced in a verdict in August that went against the Korean company.

In August, a San Jose federal court presided over by Judge Lucy Koh awarded Apple about $1 billion in damages as it held Samsung guilty of violating patents held by Apple and copying the designs of its iPhones and iPads. The verdict was arrived at by a nine-member jury, who were from the same area where Apple has its headquarters.

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Samsung asked Judge Koh that the court should prohibit Apple from “any further communication with jurors who served during the trial” until its arguments for seeking a new trial are fully resolved.

Apple, in response, filed a complaint opposing Samsung's plea and said that Samsung has not revealed whether it had contacted the jurors.

“Apple has not done so to date, yet Samsung is seeking to preclude Apple from equal access to information,” Apple said in a Sept. 25 filing. “Nevertheless, despite the lack of any merit to Samsung’s request, Apple will not contact any jurors until the court resolves this” dispute.

Apple and Samsung have been engaged in patent disputes in a number of courts across continents and countries.

Both companies are struggling for gaining dominance of the smartphone segment that has been estimated at about $250 billion according to various reports.

Last week Apple started selling its new iPhone 5 with people buying it in record numbers. Earlier this week Samsung launched its new Galaxy Note 2 smartphone and said that the sales would surpass that of the iPhone.