Apple and Samsung have filed their lists of witnesses for the upcoming damages trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The two companies are scheduled to go to trial on May 14 to determine how much Samsung owes Apple for infringing three design patents.

Case History

This case began when Apple claimed that Samsung copied the entire design for one of its smartphones. Samsung responded that if there was any infringement, the entire device was not copied as an “article of manufacture.” The case went to the United States Supreme Court for clarification on the term “article of manufacture.” The court sent the case back to district court. Apple is still seeking damages in the amount of the entire device’s value. Samsung seeks to show that only a portion of the design constitutes infringement.

Apple’s Experts

Apple lists Richard Howarth, a senior director of the Apple Design Team and one of the co-inventors of the patents at issue in this case. Howarth is expected to testify about Apple’s design process, the infringed design patents, and the other designs considered by Apple.

Apple intends to call its vice president of product marketing, Greg Joswiak, to the stand. Joswiak will offer testimony regarding Apple’s marketing strategy, the competitive market for smartphones, and the importance of Apple’s design patents to its products.

Apple also plans to call Susan Kare to the stand. Kare was an early designer at Apple and the recent recipient of the prestigious American Institute of Graphic Arts medal. Kare is expected to testify about icon and user interface graphics design and one of the patents at issue in the case.

Apple’s experts include Ravin Balakrishnan, a professor of computer science at the University of Toronto; Alan Bell, an expert on industrial design; Julie Davis, a consultant with expertise in accounting and damages analysis; Karan Singh, a professor of computer science at the University of Toronto; and Tony Blevins, a vice president of procurement at Apple.

Samsung’s Experts

Samsung’s list of experts includes Justin Denison, senior vice president of mobile product strategy and marketing at Samsung Electronics America. Denison is expected to testify about the repairability of Samsung’s phones and the company’s holistic design strategy. Denison may also offer testimony regarding his trips to the repair facility near Samsung’s North American headquarters where he saw phones being disassembled and reassembled.

Samsung also lists Drew Blackard, a senior director of product marketing for Samsung Electronics America. Blackard will testify about the parts of Samsung’s devices that used the infringing Apple design patents, explain how some customers disassemble and reassemble their own phones, and describe the smartphone market.

Samsung’s expert witnesses include Jinsoo Kim, vice president in its Corporate Design Center; Kyuhyun Han, an executive in Samsung’s business operations group; Dongwook Kim; Tim Sheppard, Samsung Electronics America’s vice president of supply chain logistics; Sam Lucente, an expert in the term article of manufacture; Michael Wagner, an expert to discuss Samsung’s profits and appropriate damages.