Are Apple and Samsung Tiring the Courts Out?

It looks like the judicial powers are getting tired of all the patent-infringement related bickering. A judge has asked Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung (SSNLF.PK) to work on narrowing their patent-infringement lawsuit case scheduled for trial in 2014, telling the two companies the current purview was too wide.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ruled in San Jose, California, on Thursday that Apple and Samsung needed to “focus and streamline” their cases to 25 patent claims and 25 accused products, Reuters said. If not, she would put the case on hold, Koh warned.

Last week, Koh had asked the two companies to agree to freeze this dispute while an appeals court reviewed a verdict in an earlier case.

“We’ll keep narrowing and narrowing,” Koh said on Thursday. “You’ve already been litigating this thing for a year; you must know something about what’s your best case.”

The case, filed last year, covers technology used in relatively newer devices for both companies and include both Samsung’s Galaxy S III handset and Apple’s iPhone 5. Last week, Apple also added the Korean company’s Galaxy Note to the case. Samsung’s allegations, meanwhile, cover “all generations” of Apple’s iPhone and iPads.

Samsung attorney Kevin Johnson told the court on Thursday that the company was willing to suspend the lawsuit, but Apple lawyer Josh Krevitt said it would oppose the request. Koh said she would consider the Korean company’s motion when it is filed, but even if the case went ahead, it would have to get smaller.

“As this case as it is currently framed, I’m refusing to go forward,” she said.

The earlier decision that is under appeal had awarded Apple more than $1 billion in damages in August. Last month, Koh also rejected Apple’s requests to add additional damages and ban sales of Samsung devices that were found to violate patents.

Copyright Wall St. Cheat Street. All rights reserved.