In the months leading up to the iPhone 4S launch, Apple lost a prototype of the handset. It seemed like it was going to be the iPhone 4/Gizmodo debacle all over again, but no pictures or other evidence ever surfaced.
Apple took some heat over the way it handled its search for the device, allegedly raiding the home of Sergio Calderon with a team of police officers. In fact, Sergio threatened to file a lawsuit against the company unless a settlement was reached.
Well here we are, more than 6 months later, and no lawsuit has been filed…
Paul McNamara of Network World wondered what had happened with Sergio’s impending legal action against Apple, so he decided to call his attorney David Monroe up and find out. Here’s how the conversation went:
“Having heard nothing more in the subsequent four months, I called Monroe yesterday and asked if he could update me on the status of that lawsuit.
“I have no comment about that.”
I mentioned the bit about him saying in December that a lawsuit was then imminent – within a few weeks — and asked what had changed since then.
“I have no comment about that.”
I was about to try a fourth round but by then we were both chuckling over the futility of the exercise.”
Monroe obviously had some kind of non-disclosure agreement keeping him from speaking publicly about his talks with Apple — which more than likely came from some type of settlement. A plaintiff in a lawsuit is typically allowed to say, “yes, I’m in a lawsuit.”
It would certainly be interesting to know how these negotiations went down. How much did Apple pay these guys to keep their mouths shut? Did the company ever find its 4S prototype? I guess we’ll never know.