London, Aug 29 (ANI): The jury foreman in Apple's landmark legal victory over Samsung, has a patent in his own name for a device that can be used in smart phones and tablets, it has emerged.
Velvin Hogan reportedly filed documents with the US Patent Office in 2002 for the 'method and apparatus for recording and storing video information'.
This also included technology for a wireless keyboard to allow users to surf the web and order films on demand, a feature, which is already available on Apple iPads.
According to the Daily Mail, the disclosure has raised a huge potential conflict of interest as it is not clear if the patent has ever been bought or used by any tech companies.
It is not known if Hogan's patent has been used or seen by either Apple or Samsung, but if he were biased in any way towards Apple it could have had a massive influence on jury's decision.
Hogan, 67, also played a crucial role in the jury's decision to rule against Samsung in the civil trial.
According to the paper, at the start of the second day of deliberations he told the others about what he called his 'aha! moment', which meant he could not defend Samsung's claims.
The following day the jury followed his 'expert' view and announced that they were siding with Apple and awarding it 1.05 billion dollars in damages, the paper said. (ANI)
