A US judge has rejected requests by Apple and Samsung Electronics to keep important legal documents out of public view in their patent case set for trial on 30 July.
Both the companies were given one week time to refile their requests, according to Reuters.
US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California ruled, "It appears that the parties have overdesignated confidential documents and are seeking to seal information that is not truly sealable."
"Only documents of exceptionally sensitive information that truly deserve protection will be allowed to be redacted or kept from the public," Koh added.
In 2011, Apple sued Samsung in the US for patent infringement and in May this year won an injunction to block the sales of some Samsung tablet computers over infringement of one patent.
The patent related with the design of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, which was released in June 2011.
Last month, Apple won a court ruling to ban Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales in the country.
The judge has already granted pretrial injunctions against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 and its Galaxy Nexus phone and Samsung is appealing both injunctions.
If Apple proves successful, it could seek to permanently ban the sale of some Samsung products.
