Apple has contested Samsung Electronics' plea for a stay in the damages retrial currently in a federal court in California, stating that the reexamination proceedings by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of an important patent in the lawsuit "are not final.""Samsung's strategy to delay entry of final judgment in this case has crossed the bounds of reason: Samsung seeks to halt the damages retrial in the midst of jury deliberations," Apple said in a filing late Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose division. The reexamination proceedings will not be final even at the USPTO level until the end of 2016 at the earliest, Apple said.It also raised the possibility that it may subsequently appeal to the USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and if unsuccessful, may seek judicial review in an appeals court.Samsung had earlier asked for a stay in the damages retrial, stating that the examiner at the USPTO had issued Wednesday an "Advisory Acti
