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Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall listed to testify in Apple vs Samsung patent retrial

Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall listed to testify in Apple vs Samsung patent retrial

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The judge has set a court date for November

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Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, is one of the marquee executives on the list of witnesses to testify at the retrial to determine a portion of the damages that Samsung must pay for violating iPhone and iPad patents, according to court documents.

Also on the list is Scott Forstall, the former Apple executive who left the company last year after being blamed for the glitchy launch of Apple Maps. The retrial is only the latest chapter in one of consumer-tech's most bitter legal cases, one that has seen two of its biggest players battle it out in courts across the globe. The parties must list all of their possible witnesses, so there's a chance Schiller and Forstall won't take the stand, but given the huge amount of money involved and Apple's strong stance about principles, it's hard to imagine the company won't use its biggest names at the retrial.

In case anyone's forgotten, Apple accused Samsung in 2011 of ripping off some of the technology and design that went into the iPhone and iPad in order to build competing phones and tablets. In August 2012, a Northern California jury ruled largely for Apple and found Samsung liable for $1.049 billion.

Later, US District Judge Lucy Koh reduced the judgment by about $450 million. In the retrial, the question of whether Samsung violated Apple's patents was determined by the first jury and is not at issue. All that must be decided now is how much Samsung must pay in damages, and Apple will surely fight for the original damages award. The pretrial is scheduled for November 12.