Judge to Apple, Samsung: Won’t You Please Think of the Jurors

Apple’s sweeping intellectual property battle with Samsung is scheduled for trial this summer, but if the companies want to keep the July 30 court date, they’re going to have to pare down their claims against each other.

Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California this week ordered both companies to reduce the size of the sprawling case to make it more manageable for the jury. Understandable, considering the case involves 16 patents, six trademarks, five “trade dress” claims and antitrust allegations spread across 37 products.

“I think that’s cruel and unusual punishment to a jury, so I’m not willing to do it,” Judge Koh told Apple and Samsung. “If you’re going to trial in July, this is not going to be acceptable.”

The companies have until Monday to reduce their claims to a manageable level. If they’re unable to do so, Koh may push the trial date back to 2013.

(Image Credit: Jury Blog)