Judge Lucy Koh shot down requests from Apple and Samsung to keep documents in their patent infringement lawsuit blocked from the public Tuesday evening. The ruling means the public could soon have access to more of the details in the ongoing legal battle between the two companies.
Reuters gets Apple v Samsung files in the open
“It appears that the parties have overdesignated confidential documents and are seeking to seal information that is not truly sealable,” Judge Koh said in her ruling, according to Reuters. She added that, “only documents of exceptionally sensitive information that truly deserve protection will be allowed to be redacted or kept from the public.”
The request to unseal the records came from Reuters as an opposition to the extensive redactions in Apple and Samsung’s filings in the case.
The two companies have been fighting in courts around the world for more than a year over allegations that they are infringing on each other’s mobile device patents. Apple has managed to win preliminary injunctions blocking the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet and Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the United States, although Samsung is appealing both of those rulings.
Samsung won a temporary stay for the injunction blocking Galaxy Nexus sales. The preliminary injunction blocking sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, however, is still in place.
Apple and Samsung have a week to refile their request to seal the documents. Neither company has commented on Judge Koh’s ruling.