Apple has asked the judge overseeing one of its patent-related lawsuits against Samsung to provide it with access to the Android source code from Google.
According to Apple, Android “provides much of the accused functionality” in Samsung’s infringing products. Apple believes it should have access to that data in order to separate which company’s software provides which functions in Samsung’s smartphones. Google says that Apple made a strategic decision to leave Google out of this particular lawsuit.
As a third party, Google isn’t entitled to the same protections that Samsung is. Google thinks providing this info to Apple would provide for future discovery and other details that it wouldn’t normally receive. The judge has yet to make a decision on the matter.
