The recent trial between technology leaders Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. was closely followed by electronics consumers worldwide. The technology at issue was cutting-edge. However, the case, Apple v. Samsung Electronics, Civil Action 11-1846 (N.D. Cal 2012) (referenced opinions at Docket Nos. 1321 and 1894), also produced an e-discovery opinion that brings us back to the core of a party’s duty to preserve evidence in anticipation of litigation. In Apple, the court sanctioned both Apple and Samsung for their failures to preserve potentially relevant information when litigation was reasonably anticipated.
Apple first sought an adverse inference jury instruction against Samsung. The issue was whether Samsung took adequate steps to avoid spoliation of electronic documents after Samsung should have reasonably anticipated the lawsuit. Samsung principally used an internal email system that automatically deleted emails after two weeks. To avoid the automatic deletion, Samsung’s employees could select emails that they wanted to preserve past the automatic deletion.
