Apple loses bid to include Galaxy S4 in Samsung suit

Judge Paul S. Grewal says that adding the Galaxy S4 to the lawsuit would put Samsung under "undue prejudice."

U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal turned down Apple's recent request to include the Galaxy S4 in its ongoing lawsuit against Samsung.

In a ruling dated June 26, Judge Grewal wrote that Apple's argument for including the Galaxy S4 in its lawsuit against Samsung was not persuasive enough, and provides Samsung with "undue prejudice" as it looks to defend itself against Apple's jabs.

Here's what Judge Grewal had to say:

Throughout the hearing, Apple warned that excluding the Galaxy S4 would result in yet another case with more claims of infringement and would require Apple to continue to play, in counsel's words, 'whack-a-mole' with Samsung. Apple presented the exact same argument to Judge Koh during an April 23, 2013 hearing during which she required them to set a schedule to drop products and patents. Judge Koh was not persuaded by this argument and neither is the undersigned.

Apple already needs to dismiss without prejudice several products from this case and so a new trial would be likely regardless. Given the likely undue prejudice to Samsung and Judge Koh's directives regarding the management and progression of this case, the court DENIES Apple's request to add the Galaxy S4 to its contentions.

Apple last month asked U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh to add the Galaxy S4 to its Samsung lawsuit, citing patent infringement. To adhere to Judge Koh's request that the companies reduce the number of infringing devices, Apple offered to remove another device from its lawsuit to keep the same number of products.

As Judge Grewal notes, however, that's not enough for the judges. In addition, Judge Grewal argues that because the Galaxy S4 is relatively new to the market, Samsung shouldn't be expected to deliver all of the required information in time for upcoming hearings.

The companies are waging an ongoing court battle over alleged patent infringement on both sides. Last year, a jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages from Samsung, but Judge Koh lowered that to $639.4 million. She also ordered a new trial in November to determine if certain products included in that judgement should have been cited as infringing.