Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan managing partner John Quinn has defended his decision to share evidence with reporters covering the Apple-Samsung patent trial, reports The Recorder.

Quinn yesterday (1 August) filed a declaration confirming that he authorised a press release containing links to evidence that US District Judge Lucy Koh had blocked the jury from hearing, in response to media requests.

Samsung says the evidence is critical in defending itself against Apple's claims that the Galaxy smartphone ripped off the iPhone. Quinn denies any wrongdoing.

Samsung "did not violate any court order or any legal or ethical standards," Quinn wrote in his six-page declaration.

The filing came after Koh on Tuesday learned (31 July) that Samsung had put out the public statement. When the jury left for the day, Apple lead counsel Harold McElhinny of Morrison & Foerster alerted Koh to the media statement. A visibly upset McElhinny claimed it was a blatant attempt to influence the jury and suggested it could be considered contempt of court.

Koh demanded to know who authorised the statement and asked to speak to Quinn personally. However, by that time, Quinn was already on his way back to Los Angeles, as his firm's partners are trying the case.

Quinn (pictured) had angered Koh earlier in the day when he begged her to reconsider her previous decision to block exhibits of Samsung mobile phones that were designed before the iPhone was introduced. When Koh declined, Quinn persisted. "Don't make me sanction you," Koh snapped. When he continued to press his case, she finally told him to please sit down, which he did.

That afternoon, a spokeswoman for Samsung sent out the statement to reporters pointing them to the disputed evidence, saying that "fundamental fairness requires that the jury decide the case based on all the evidence." The evidence included transcripts of an interview with an Apple designer that mentioned Sony's Walkman design. Samsung contends that Apple's iPhone design is not as unique as the company claims, and that Apple copied elements of Sony's products when designing the iPhone.

In defending himself, Quinn turned to some of Koh's own words about transparency. The "United States district court is a public institution," he quoted her as saying in a prior ruling. "Far from violating any order, Samsung's transmission to the public is entirely consistent with this court's statements," he wrote.

Quinn said his own honour was also at stake. "Apple's counsel publicly and unfairly called my personal reputation into question and have resulted in media reports likewise falsely impugning me personally," he wrote.

William Lee, a Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr partner who is on Apple's trial team, said he intends to file an emergency motion for sanctions. Lee, who is defending against Samsung's counterclaims of patent infringement, said Quinn's declaration does not provide the full text of the statement. Nor does it say who drafted and released it, as Koh had requested.

"Samsung's multiple references to the jury in its statement make plain its intent that the jurors in our case learn of arguments the court has excluded through the press," Lee wrote.

The trial is set to resume on Friday.

The Recorder is a US affiliate title of Legal Week.