Apple senior vice president of industrial design Jonathan Ive has a December 1 deadline to complete a deposition for Samsung in the electronics maker’s patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. The deposition was originally set to be completed by November 1, but Samsung asked for an extension for Mr. Ive for personal reasons, according to Edible Apple.
Apple and Samsung have been locked in a legal battle over patent infringement claims for several months. Both companies have alleged that the other’s mobile devices use patented technologies without proper licensing, and have filed lawsuits against each other in the U.S. and other countries.
A German court upheld an injunction blocking the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the country, and the company filed an appeal in hopes of overturning that ruling. Apple was also awarded a temporary injunction through a Dutch court blocking the sale of some Galaxy devices in the European Union, along with an injunction blocking the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia.
The deposition Samsung is seeking from Mr. Ive is for its U.S. court battle with Apple. Mr. Ive’s deep involvement in the design process for the iPhone and iPad is of particular interest to the company.
Along with Mr. Ive, Samsung will be conducting depositions of Doug Satzger, a former Apple employee who handled colors and finishes for the original iMac, iPods, the iPhone and MacBooks, Apple industrial designer Shin Nishibori, and Apple designer Christopher Stringer.
Apple has not commented on the pending depositions.