Samsung, and the attorneys representing the company from Quinn Emmanuel were ordered to pay $2 million in legal fees to Nokia and Apple in relation to the leak involving their confidential patent licensing agreement, according to AppleInsider.
The leak first became public knowledge when Dr. Seungho Ahn told the Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Nokia that he knew about the confidential terms of a previous licensing agreement between Apple and Nokia. The Chief Intellectual Property Officer involved is Paul Melin.
The leak was investigated and it was discovered that the lawyers from Quinn Emmanuel who were representing Samsung failed to remain confidential regarding documents Apple had to provide “for attorneys’ eyes only” while in the discovery phase of the patent infringement trial of the iPhone.
Quinn Emmanuel shared the documents with Samsung and then they were shared internally inside the company. The documents were even used to help bargain against Nokia in other patent negotiations. The breach was not mentioned to Apple until months after it occurred and Apple asked the court to issue sanctions for Samsung and the company’s attorneys.
U.S. District Court Judge Paul S. Grewal issued a ruling this week, according to AppleInsider, that states the following:
“After reviewing the materials unearthed by discovery, the court granted Apple’s motion for sanctions against Samsung and its counsel on two grounds: (1) failure to institute sufficient safeguards for third-party confidential information and (2) failure to comply with the notice and cooperation requirements set forth in Section 18(a) of the protective order entered in this case. The court ordered QE to reimburse Apple and Nokia any and all costs and fees incurred in litigating this motion and the discovery associated with it.”
Sanctions were issued earlier this year against both Quinn Emmanuel and Samsung at the request of Apple and Nokia.
The legal fees were reviewed one final time by Judge Grewal, who ruled that Samsung and its attorneys have to pay the amount Apple and Nokia claimed within 30 days.
“No later than 30 days from this order, Samsung and QE are to pay Nokia a total of $1,145,027.95 and Apple a total of $893,825.77 in fees and costs,” the judge wrote, according to AppleInsider.