海角大神

With Apple Inc. legend Steve Jobs gone and current CEO Tim Cook conspicuously absent, Apple on Friday put two of its rock-star executives on the stand as ammunition in its multibillion-dollar patent showdown with聽Samsung聽Electronics Co., including a software guru who assembled the design team for the original iPhone.

In several hours of testimony, Apple software chief Scott Forstall described the early days of iPhone development, revealing that the secret design work was dubbed the 鈥淧urple Project鈥� and engineers toiled in an insulated 鈥淧urple dorm.鈥� Forstall also told a federal court jury he pinned a note on the door of the dorm, 鈥淔ight Club,鈥� a reference to the movie鈥檚 screed to ensure what happened behind closed doors remained there.

Forstall鈥檚 testimony was aimed at buttressing Apple鈥檚 legal argument that it went to great lengths to develop products such as the iPhone and iPad, which the Cupertino company maintains have been 鈥渟lavishly copied鈥� by rival聽Samsung. Forstall told the jury the secrecy was needed because Apple was making a new phone 鈥渙ut of whole cloth.鈥�

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller also testified as the epic trial ended its first week before a seven-man, two-woman jury. Apple is seeking $2.5 billion in damages against聽Samsung聽for patent infringement and trade dress violations, while聽Samsung聽has countersued, alleging Apple has copied its patents.

Schiller, against the backdrop of a video slide showing Apple spent more than $1 billion on U.S. advertising on the iPhone and iPad between 2008 and 2011, told the jury聽Samsung鈥檚聽copying has fostered consumer confusion and made it harder to market Apple products.

鈥淪amsung聽has ripped off a number of our design elements,鈥� Schiller said.

In questioning both Schiller and Forstall,聽Samsung聽lawyers tried to poke holes in Apple鈥檚 argument that it was a lone innovator in the smartphone and tablet world, suggesting Apple was guilty of imitating competitors as much as any company.

Both witnesses were confronted with internal Apple emails among top executives discussing 鈥渢ear-downs鈥� and reviews of rival products, including聽Samsung鈥檚.

The Apple executives said it was common to review competitors鈥� products, but distinguished that from copying designs.

Schiller encountered one tense moment when a聽Samsung聽attorney asked him if the iPhone 5, set to be released in September, would have a different design than the iPhone 4S.

Schiller declined to discuss the design, saying it was confidential.

The trial proceeded Friday after U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh rejected Apple鈥檚 bid to end the case immediately with a judgment in its favor. Apple had urged Koh to make that finding based on a controversial聽Samsung news release sent out earlier in the week that decried some of the judge鈥檚 rulings barring some of its evidence.

Koh condemned聽Samsung鈥檚聽legal team for its 鈥渢heatrics鈥� and 鈥渟ideshow,鈥� but refused to stop the trial. She did take the unusual step of polling the jury on whether they have read any media accounts, but they all said they had steered clear of such reports.

The trial resumes Monday morning with the testimony of another聽Samsung聽executive and several Apple experts.