Samsung Granted Leave to Depose Toshiyuki Masui in Japan Re Prior Art ~pj

Samsung has been given leave [PDF] in Apple v. Samsung II to depose Toshiyuki Masui [PDF] in Japan regarding prior art. Specifically, it's about POBox software, which it believes is relevant prior art.

Here is a paper [PDF] on POBox by Professor Masui, "An Efficient Text Input Method for Pen-based Computers", published in Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'98) (April 1998). Here's another, "An Efficient Text Input Method for Handheld and Ubiquitous Computers" the following year [PDF]. Professor Masui was approached and expressed willingness to attend the deposition. The deposition is set for June 11 in Tokyo, in the US embassy there. The Declaration [PDF] attached to the motion asking for leave to depose Professor Masui explains how it all happened:

2. I first spoke with Professor Masui on or about February 5, 2013. I explained that we were interested in Professor Masui's work on the POBox software, which is relevant prior art in this litigation. On or about the morning of February 6, my colleague John McKee and I spoke to Professor Masui about POBox. During this call, Professor Masui expressed willingness to gather and provide information about POBox. Several days later, on or about February 12, 2013, Professor Masui verbally confirmed to me that he would be willing to sit for a deposition in this matter.

3. Over the last few months, I have spoken with Professor Masui several additional times. Professor Masui has declined to travel to the United States for a deposition, but has stated that he would be willing to appear for a deposition in Tokyo, Japan. On or about March 20, Professor Masui confirmed to me that he was available June 11 in Tokyo, and would be willing to sit for a deposition on that date. Samsung thereafter reserved space at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo for Professor Masui's deposition.

Attached are the rules for such depositions, Exhibit 1, The United States - Japan Consular Convention, and Exhibit 2, the State Department's guidelines for conducting depositions in Japan.

Also the judge, the Hon. Lucy Koh, has filed her order [PDF] construing disputed patent claim terms. It's full of the usual infuriating spaghetti language about terms that describe elements of patents that in my view should never have issued in the first place. Don't read on if you don't want to know about one specific. But there is a link to Professor Masui's work.