Judge tells Apple that August 5th too soon for Samsung injunction hearing

On July 1st, Apple filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against four flagship Samsung products in the US. Apparently that request was answered on July 2nd by Judge Lucy Koh, although it was just discovered today by Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents. In her order, dated July 2nd, Koh expresses doubts about whether five weeks is enough time to conduct discovery regarding the legitimacy of the injunction.

Based on the parties’ previous representations, it appeared that the parties intended to conduct discovery pertinent to the preliminary injunction motion following the filing of the opening and opposition briefs. It appears that the schedule proposed by Apple would not provide sufficient time for such discovery.

Mueller posits that Apple does not need to see any more evidence to make its case for an injunction and would be ready by the date. This may very well be due to the fact that Samsung has already had to provide Apple with prototype devices of the models in question including the Infuse 4G, Galaxy S 4G, Droid Charge and Galaxy Tab 10.1. But, even if Apple feels that it needs no more time, Samsung may still object, as any additional time may be tactically advantageous for them.

The next step is that Apple and Samsung need to get together to file a joint statement to the judge, providing her with a timeline for the hearing that they can both agree on. That statement needs to be filed by July 8th, this friday.

Mueller is also careful to point out that there is nothing in this statement from Judge Koh that indicates any weakness in Apple’s position regarding the injunction, it’s simply a matter of scheduling and gathering of evidence. If neither Samsung nor Apple says that they need more time to collect the evidence that they need to make a case then the hearing could be set for as soon as the original date. If either party objects and says that they need more time, then the decision on the motion will be pushed out even further.

We’ve reached out to Samsung and Apple for comment and will update this story if they choose to make a public statement.