This article originally appeared in our affiliate, The Recorder.
Jurors in the closely watched patent battle between Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics got their first glimpse of the legal teams Monday.
And the differences in their lawyers style and approach to the case were already on display during the painstaking, day-long process of selecting a jury before an over-flowing courtroom. While Apples lawyers came across as direct and succinct, Samsungs side took a more casual, laid-back approach.
I perhaps cringe to ask you this, but why do you like the iPad? Samsung lawyer William Price, of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, asked a woman.
William Lee, a Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr partner and veteran of the smartphone war, handled jury selection for Apple. He wanted to know if potential jurors were familiar with open source software. From what I understand, its when they leave the actual code open for other people to see and mess with it if they feel like it, said one young man who was selected to hear the four-week trial. Ive never messed with it.
The seven men and three woman selected are being asked to decide if they agree with Apples allegations that Samsungs Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets slavishly copied Apples iPhone and iPod products. Apple wants a record $2.5 billion in damages and to block sales of certain devices. South Korea-based Samsung has countersued, alleging that Apple is violating some of its patents.
Lee quizzed a designer at Google Inc. about projects hed worked on, and whether anyone had ever filed a lawsuit in relation to any of the patents hed helped acquire. No, the Google designer said, but ultimately he was excused. Lee wanted to know if one woman was frustrated with the process of trying to get her day care center accredited. It was heart-rending and grueling, she said.
Quinn Emanuels Price also got into personal details. He asked about what dream jobs people wanted and what video games one young man played. And he drew on sports metaphors in trying to tease out whether the designer at Google, who wasnt chosen for the jury, could be unbiased if a call was made against his team.
Ill base my opinion on what I see, the Google employee said. Youre very analytical, arent you? Price said. I think so, the man replied.
But Prices final question was more direct. Did anyone think that Asian or South Korean companies are more dishonest than American companies, he asked? No one raised their hand.
Opening statements are set for Tuesday morning. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh is presiding.
