Apple wants Samsung logo on court televisions obscured from jurors in trial

In a filing with the U.S. district court, Apple revealed it will bring a motion for "obscuring the 'Samsung' logo on the court's video display for jurors," as noted on Tuesday by Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents. Samsung displays are used in the courtroom in the Northern District of California, but Apple doesn't want the company's logo to be constantly shown to jurors.

"At first sight, this may seem very funny, but I actually understand why Apple would make this request: act a conscious level, it can show to jurors that Samsung actually contributes technology to the U.S. government, and at a subconscious level, it creates the impression of the court being Samsung territory," Mueller wrote.

Apple has also asked the court that any quotes from company co-founder Steve Jobs to biographer Walter Isaacson to be excluded from the trial. In Isaacson's biography of Jobs released last year, the late former Apple CEO went on an "expletive-laced rant" about the Android mobile operating system, and said he was "willing to go thermonuclear war" to "destroy" the product.

Apple also asked the court to prevent "any reference to working conditions in China" to be presented in the trial. The company has recently come under fire for its partnership with Foxconn for assembling devices in China, though Apple has also worked to improve conditions at overseas factories with independent audits conducted by the Fair Labor Association.

Samsung, too, presented a list of requests for the court. The company has asked that any "Apple related blogs, and articles by non-expert newspaper reporters" regarding Apple and Samsung products be excluded.

Samsung also asked that the court strike the opinions of Henry Urbach, who testified on Apple's cultural significance, and Sanjay Sood, who is Apple's expert on consumer decision making.

The trial between Apple and Samsung is scheduled to begin on July 30, 2012, though Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Gee-Sung Choi will meet in San Francisco later this month in an effort to resolve their dispute. Each company has accused the other of patent infringement in complaints that now span 50 lawsuits across 10 countries.

The legal battle began in April of 2011, when Apple sued Samsung for allegedly copying the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad. Samsung has shot back with its own patent infringement complaints against Apple, though it has not found any success in such litigation thus far, while Apple has managed to win some temporary injunctions on certain Samsung products.