Samsung have been denied access to confidential Apple contracts it holds with the major Australian telco’s just days after a Sydney Federal Court Judge ruled they should be given access to the secret documents.
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On Wednesday, Judge Annabelle Bennett ordered Apple “to produce to barristers by noon on 10 November 2011 contracts between Apple on the one hand and Vodafone, Telstra and Optus on the other hand pursuant to the notice to produce issued by Samsung to Apple on 28 October 2011.”
Apple legal counsel told the Federal court hearing today that the information Samsung was after was not contained in any of the iPhone contracts his client has with either Vodafone, Telstra and Optus.
Samsung’s counsel subsequently dropped its demand, on Judge Bennett’s reassurances, reports ZD Net.
Earlier this week Apple’s lawyer, Andrew Fox, dismissed the demands by Samsung as a “fishing expedition.”
South Korean Galaxy maker believed all the major Australian telcos pay Apple subsidies on sales of iPhone and are suing Cupertino on the grounds that it infringed mobile 3G patents used on iPhone, which Samsung claim Apple failed to license appropriately.
The Galaxy rival are looking to ban sale of the newly released iPhone 4S in Australia, in retaliation for Apple successfully banning the sale of Galaxy Tab 10.1 here, in a patents battle that is getting nastier by the minute.
Earlier this week, the court also heard Samsung counsel accusing “someone” of “attempting to obfuscate” information on Apple source code for iPhone, which the latter was forced to submit to Samsung, amounting to over 220 pages of documents, this week.
(Please kiss and make up, Mr Apple and Mr Samsung, we don’t want either of you banned from Oz).
