Apple vs Samsung case jury foreman interview: "evidence spoke overwhelmingly, no question" about decision

Velvin Hogan is a name you might have never heard, but the 67-year old electrical engineer happened to be the jury foreman at the Apple versus Samsung case, announcing the jury’s staggering decision to virtually accept all of Apple’s patent claims. Now, he’s making the rounds at the media, explaining how the jury came at that decision, clarifying that Apple didn’t have home court advantage and making clear how convinced the jury was.

"Clearly, the evidence, to us, spoke overwhelmingly," Hogan said in an interview for Bloomberg. "There was no question about it."


As one of the few people in the jury with technical background, the elderly engineer became the foreman for a jury consisting of seven man and two women. The jury’s verdict has polarized opinions with one side claiming that what seems like obvious solutions shouldn’t become a subject of an “Apple tax” while others countering with the argument that even the tiniest of elements like the icons have taken a long time to design, and that effort should be protectted. Obviously, the jurors sided with the second argument:

"In this country, intellectual property deserves to be protected," he said. "If any company decides to ignore the stipulations and the rules and get too close that they cross the line and infringe and do it willfully -- they need to understand if they take the risk and get caught, they should have to pay for it."



The jury decided that Samsung should pay Apple $1.05 billion for patent infringement, but the sum could triple if US district judge Lucy Koh agrees with the jury’s claims of Samsung willfully infringing on Apple’s intellectual property.

"She's an interesting personality," Hogan spoke about Judge Koh, obviously referring to her distinct way of conducting the case and frank expression as in when Koh asked Apple lawyers whether they are “smoking crack.”

You can check out the full interview below, it’s an interesting look behind the scenes and into one of the people that seem to be in the core of a decision that could sway the balance in the mobile industry against Android.

source: Bloomberg