Think being called in for jury duty sucks? Well imagine the poor folks who’ve been pitted to judge the Apple vs. Samsung case. As has now been revealed, each juror will be receiving a 100-page instruction document (which I can imagine is some enlightening reading), and can then look forward to a 17 page questionnaire for Samsung, and a 9 page for Apple. In all, there will be some 225 checkboxes to tackle.
I can’t lie – being on jury duty is going to be painful (I’ve never been, but have come close), but I couldn’t imagine being on this one. And though it seems a little ridiculous with regards to what’s expected of the jury, it’s apparently pretty normal for patent cases. I’m now thankful that I don’t live in Silicon Valley, as you’d have to imagine your chances of being summoned for such a case would be much greater.
As an aside, I have to wonder just how effective a jury like this can be. After a point, you’d imagine that people are just going to begin checking off boxes randomly due to sheer boredom or mental exhaustion. I hate even writing down my address on a piece of paper, much less filling out a questionnaire that puts army recruitment to shame!