Judge gives instructions to jury as Apple and Samsung prepare closing arguments

Apple-Samsung case set to be decided by jury after both sides fail to reach a compromise

The intellectual property lawsuit between Apple and Samsung reaches its final stages today as Judge Lucy Koh (pictured) gives instructions to guide the nine-person jury over their decision-making.

The 109 pages of instructions, which has taken most of the morning to recite and which covers the main points of the trial that the jurors will be considering, precedes the closing arguments by both sides. The trial is now in its third week.

Last week, Samsung's defence was cut short after it ran out of time. Judge Koh had imposed a strict limit of 25 hours of court time on each party. Samsung spent more than half of its allotted time cross-examining Apple witnesses, restricting the amount of time that it was able to spend on its own defence.

Once both sides have completed their summing up, the case will be in the hands of the jury to decide, after both companies failed to reach a settlement - despite an appeal by Judge Koh late last week.

Apple is seeking damages of between $2.5bn (£1.6bn) and $2.75bn (£1.74bn) from Samsung, claiming that it infringed a number of its design and "utility" patents, such as the "pinch to zoom" facility on its tablet computers, and "rubber-banding" - the way that the graphics bounce back when a user scrolls to the end of a file or screen.

Samsung, in its defence, has claimed prior art and also asserted that Apple has infringed a number of Samsung wireless patents; it is counter-claiming up to $421.8m (£270m) in compensation.

The jury may take some time to reach a decision: for either company to win, Federal rules require a unanimous jury verdict.