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Apple Granted Access to Unreleased Samsung Hardware in Patent Suit

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Apr 12, 2001
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galaxy_tab_8_9.jpg

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9​

Last month, Apple filed suit against Samsung, claiming patent and trademark infringement from Samsung having allegedly copied Apple's "technology, user interface and innovative style" in its Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets.

Courthouse News Service now reports that a federal judge has given Samsung 30 days in which to provide Apple with samples of a number of unreleased hardware models in order to assist Apple with determining whether it would like to request an early injunction to halt the claimed infringement.
Samsung Electronics was told Wednesday to fork over five of its not-yet-released mobile phones to Apple. Sitting in Federal Court in San Jose, Judge Lucy Koh ruled that Apple deserves the quick production of cell phone samples three months earlier than usual in the litigation process, though she drew the line at requiring testimony from Samsung executives.

"Apple has demonstrated good cause for some, limited expedited discovery," said Koh. "While Apple has not yet filed a motion for preliminary injunction, courts have found that expedited discovery may be justified to allow a plaintiff to determine whether to seek an early injunction," said Koh.
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The Samsung models in question include the Galaxy S2, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G, and Droid Charge.

While the models have yet to be officially released to the public and Samsung has argued that examination of production samples that may not necessarily reflect final shipping versions is inappropriate, Koh noted that the argument is undermined by Samsung's publicity efforts that have seen images and even demo units handed out to members of the media. In one noteworthy example, 5,000 Galaxy Tab 10.1s were given away to attendees at the Google I/O conference earlier this month.

Article Link: Apple Granted Access to Unreleased Samsung Hardware in Patent Suit
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/24/apple-granted-access-to-unreleased-samsung-hardware-in-patent-suit/
ten-oak-druid

ten-oak-druid

macrumors 68000
Jan 11, 2010
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Apple has to go through with this suit of course but it seems a waste of time. The galaxy tablets aren't selling. I guess the phone is of greater concern.
 
J

juicedropsdeuce

macrumors 6502
Jun 23, 2010
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Oh, Steve. You bully customers, you bully poorly paid Foxconn employees, you bully your vendors, and you bully your competitors.
 
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S

sciwizam

macrumors regular
Jul 10, 2010
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Galaxy S2, Infuse 4G, and Droid Charge are already in sale. S2 is available in Europe and Asia. Infuse 4G is out on AT&T and Droid Charge is out on Verizon LTE.

They gave out Galaxy Tab 10.1 to all of Google I/O conference attendees.

The only unreleased model is the Galaxy Tab 8.9, but that's just the 10.1 smaller in size and lighter in weight @ 1 lb.

And within the 30days Samsung has to comply, the Tab 10.1 is being released to the general public on June 8th.
 
BC2009

BC2009

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Jul 1, 2009
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Seems right to me -- Samsung should have tried to be a bit more original in their hardware and UI designs. Nobody would mistake a Motorola device for an Apple device -- Samsung has tried too hard to make their stuff look exactly like Apple's stuff. Since Apple clearly does NOT have a monopoly on cool gadget designs the only reason I can think that Samsung would do this is to try to make their stuff look as much like Apple's as possible so they can fool some customers into thinking Samsung devices are just a different kind of iPhone or iPad.
 
S

sciwizam

macrumors regular
Jul 10, 2010
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Also, while it might not be relevant to this case, I wonder how Apple would react if the situation is reversed and they had to provide access to their unreleased hardware.
 
U

Unggoy Murderer

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Jan 28, 2011
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You'd have to be pretty close to blind if I can't see the resemblance Samsung has to Apple. I hope that Apple win this case, they worked so hard to design the perfect device; and they did! It sickens me to see cheap ass companies ripping off Apple's hard work.
 
S

sciwizam

macrumors regular
Jul 10, 2010
181
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Another point, this is access to Apple's outside law firm. Not Apple's inhouse legal dept. or any product dept.
 
BC2009

BC2009

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Jul 1, 2009
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Arcus said:
When you can no longer innovate....litigate.
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I think the fact that Samsung is trying to copy Apple at every turn points to the fact that Samsung is the one who is failing to innovate. Many great gadget designs have come from HP and Motorola and great UI designs as well from the likes of Microsoft, Motorola and HTC. The fact that Samsung is copying Apple's design is sad.
 
whooleytoo

whooleytoo

macrumors 604
Aug 2, 2002
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That seems strangely generous to Apple - offering them access to unreleased Samsung products in case they might, maybe, infringe on Apple's patents/trademarks. That seems a little 'guilty until proven innocent' to me.

You can't really imagine anyone ordering Apple to hand over any of their unreleased products. In fact, one side-effect of this ruling might be that Apple may get even more obsessive about future product secrecy, thus giving competitors a potential chance to file for a preliminary injunction.
 
D

dba7dba

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Oct 16, 2008
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Most of the devices are being sold in Europe/asia. Apple doesn't have employees that can go pick one up for their lawyers to check out?
 
D

dwd3885

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Dec 10, 2004
2,131
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BC2009 said:
I think the fact that Samsung is trying to copy Apple at every turn points to the fact that Samsung is the one who is failing to innovate. Many great gadget designs have come from HP and Motorola and great UI designs as well from the likes of Microsoft, Motorola and HTC. The fact that Samsung is copying Apple's design is sad.
Click to expand...

idk. I have a Nexus S and it has NFC. Don't see an Apple product with that. Sure, I agree that Touchwiz is an iOS clone. Samsung should HOPE that Apple wins at least that part, because Touchwiz STINKS
 
S

sciwizam

macrumors regular
Jul 10, 2010
181
0
dwd3885 said:
idk. I have a Nexus S and it has NFC. Don't see an Apple product with that. Sure, I agree that Touchwiz is an iOS clone. Samsung should HOPE that Apple wins at least that part, because Touchwiz STINKS
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Touchwiz 4.0 on the Galaxy S2 is miles better than the whatever Samsung has now.
 
D

DroidRules

macrumors 65816
Aug 10, 2010
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Some of you are sooo funny. I had a PDA that had a home button, Apple copied that. It also had a screen that you could touch, Apple copied that. It had a power button.... yep, you guessed it Apple copied it.

Apple is rediculous and I hope they lose every BS lawsuit they file. (As is my hope with any BS lawsuit.)
 
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nunes013

nunes013

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May 24, 2010
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BC2009 said:
Seems right to me -- Samsung should have tried to be a bit more original in their hardware and UI designs. Nobody would mistake a Motorola device for an Apple device -- Samsung has tried too hard to make their stuff look exactly like Apple's stuff. Since Apple clearly does NOT have a monopoly on cool gadget designs the only reason I can think that Samsung would do this is to try to make their stuff look as much like Apple's as possible so they can fool some customers into thinking Samsung devices are just a different kind of iPhone or iPad.
Click to expand...

this... i was on the shuttle at my university a few weeks ago and there was a kid who had a device that looked the iphone. when i looked closer it was just a galaxy phone but a quick glance i couldnt tell the difference with the home button, and grid of icons. first manufacturers copy the ideas of Apple now the design of their products. there has only been a handful of innovative features that Apple hasnt deployed in there products that has been released these past few years.
 
Aduntu

Aduntu

macrumors 6502a
Mar 29, 2010
599
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juicedropsdeuce said:
Oh, Steve. You bully customers, you bully poorly paid Foxconn employees, you bully your vendors, and you bully your competitors.
Click to expand...

What's the point in working hard to innovate if you're just going to let others blatantly copy your work without repercussion?
 
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D

dba7dba

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2008
421
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Near Apple
BC2009 said:
I think the fact that Samsung is trying to copy Apple at every turn points to the fact that Samsung is the one who is failing to innovate. Many great gadget designs have come from HP and Motorola and great UI designs as well from the likes of Microsoft, Motorola and HTC. The fact that Samsung is copying Apple's design is sad.
Click to expand...

I think people can agree innovate = patents. Some may object to the patents given out but still.

Top-50 US Patent Recipients from 2009
http://www.ificlaims.com/IFI 2009 patents 011210 final.htm

1 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP 4914
2 SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD KR 3611
...
46 SAMSUNG SDI CO LTD KR 423


That's right Apple not on the list. I think Apple broke into top 50 in 2010 list though.
 
*LTD*

*LTD*

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Lesson learned: ripping off Apple is a bad idea.
 
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