[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdbvAdINPPA] We have brought you updates on the Apple vs. Samsung trial all week with yesterday’s highlight being a testimony from Apple’s expert design witness, former President of the Industrial Designers Society of America Peter Bressler. Last week, we told you Apple Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall testified in the case, but Network World discovered some interesting bits today from Forstall’s deposition from a few months ago. While noting the three key multi-touch patents involved in the case (381′ related to “rubber banding,” ‘915 related to determining one-finger scroll vs. multi-touch gestures, and ‘163 related to double tap to zoom), Network World posted excerpts from Forstall’s highly redacted deposition. The SVP appears to have claimed the now-late CEO Steve Jobs once told Samsung not to copy or steal the inertial scrolling, rubber band invention:

Returning to the Forstall’s deposition, Apple’s iOS guru is asked about discussions Steve Jobs seemingly had with Samsung over the rubber banding patent…Forstall responded:

Regarding whether the feature was discussed in subsequent meetings with Samsung:

It is unclear which meetings Forstall is referring to due to the large amount of redactions in the documents, but Network World noted that court documents revealed previously that Apple offered to license Samsung patent ‘381 in November 2010. Forstall also described meetings Jobs had with Samsung when questioned about iOS icon designs:

Also of note was Network World’s account of Forstall describing the importance of the ‘163 patent, which covers the ability to quickly zoom in with a double tap while scrolling:

While using early iPhone prototypes to browse the web, Forstall frequently found himself pinching and zooming in order to get the page to look “just right.” It soon occurred to him that it would be much more efficient to have the OS take care of all the dirty work and automatically zoom in appropriately with a simple double tap.

We will bring you more highlights from the Apple vs. Samsung trial as it continues today.

  • Apple SVP Scott Forstall talks creation of the iPhone (Project Purple) and ‘giving up nights and weekends for years’