Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing will have to provide further testimony to lawyers for Samsung as part of the appeal proceedings related to the never-ending patent infringement case,, a California court ordered Thursday -- as reported by the "IDG News Service" (http://macte.ch/Pk1W5).

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has ordered both companies to make available a number of expert witnesses to lawyers for the other company for out-of-court depositions of "not more than three hours," and the short witness list includes Schiller.

Apple sought a clarification with the court on whether Schiller was eligible for a request from Samsung lawyers, notes the "IDG News Service." Apple argued that Schiller spoke at the trial as a fact witness, not an expert witness.

This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example, Apple alleges that Samsung copied the slide-to-unlock technology of its iPhone and iPad devices.