Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,300
30,390



For nearly a month now, we've been following Samsung's request for access to Apple's next-generation iPhone and iPad hardware, a move obviously made in retaliation for Apple having demanded (and received) access to unreleased, albeit publicly-shown, Samsung hardware as part of the legal battle between the two companies.

samsung_logo.jpg



As noted by FOSS Patents, a federal judge has now ruled that Apple does not have to turn its plans for the next-generation iOS hardware over to Samsung's lawyers.

The judge also ruled, however, that there is some merit to Samsung's claims that its own forthcoming devices claimed to be infringing on Apple's designs should be compared to Apple's next-generation hardware as opposed to the current-generation hardware, particularly in the case of the iPhone. With Apple expected to be releasing the next-generation iPhone within the next few months, the judge notes that the potential for customer confusion should be gauged against products on the market at the same time.
Samsung is free to argue, for instance, that there is little likelihood of confusion because consumers will not encounter its products side-by-side with the iPhone 4 or iPad 2, but rather with Apple's next generation iPhone and iPad. Similarly, as to proximity, Samsung is free to argue that because the iPhone 4 and [iPad] 2 will soon be outmoded and reduced in price, they are not being sold (or very soon will not be sold) to the same class of purchasers who are likely to buy new Samsung products. By choosing to allege infringement only of its current products, Apple opens itself up to these arguments.
But while the judge admits that aspect of Samsung's argument, her ruling also reveals that she is unconvinced of an imminent release of new hardware from Apple, particularly in the case of the next-generation iPad. And regardless of Apple's timeline for a hardware release, Samsung's case does not hinge upon receiving early access to Apple's unannounced devices.

Article Link: Samsung's Request to See iPhone 5 and iPad 3 Denied
 

nwcs

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2009
2,722
5,262
Tennessee
Not surprising that the judge ruled that way. I wonder what will happen with the new patents being approved, etc.? I wouldn't be surprised to see a behind the scenes settlement.
 

ouimetnick

macrumors 68040
Aug 28, 2008
3,552
6,341
Beverly, Massachusetts
Guess Apple won't feel "harassed" anymore.:cool:

I do agree with the Judge that the products need to be compared against current shipping devices. Otherwise Samsung, might "accidentally" copy Apple some more.
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
No surprise.

Samsung requested to see products that didn't exist. What exactly were they thinking?
 

justinfreid

macrumors 6502a
Nov 24, 2009
501
23
NEW Jersey / USA
Really?

My guess is that nearly every single consumer, any person looking to purchase an Apple product, would know, without any doubt that unless you see an :apple: it's not one of Steve Jobs' creations.
Samsung may have infringed upon some of Apple's patents, even while they were supplying many of the components Apple was using to build those products, but the argument that a hypothetical consumer could mistake a Samsung phone for an iPhone falls flat.
Wouldn't Apple's marketing department make that argument? Maybe Samsung will subpoena Phil Shiller and see if can at once claim that he's good at his job and that there's room for error in the average consumer's mind about what constitutes an Apple iPhone versus a Samsung Whatever-Silly-Noun-or-Adjective.
 

ouimetnick

macrumors 68040
Aug 28, 2008
3,552
6,341
Beverly, Massachusetts
No surprise.

Samsung requested to see products that didn't exist. What exactly were they thinking?

I'm sure Apple has a working prototype of the iPhone 5, and a Prototype of the next iPad in their labs.. Are you going to say that when the iPhone 3GS was the main iPhone, the next iPhone didn't exist? Well thats wrong, because a clumsy Engineer left it behind in a bar.... and it was indeed the next iPhone!:rolleyes:
 

coojo28

macrumors newbie
Jun 22, 2011
3
0
SO. IL.
No surprise.

Samsung requested to see products that didn't exist. What exactly were they thinking?

No kidding. If there was an iPhone 5 they usually launch in JULY. as have all of the rest of the previous models. Also, it was leaked every year in MARCH before the release of any of the devices. MARCH 2011... NOTHING.. same is going to be for JULY.. NOTHING. NO IPHONE 5.

If APPLE wants to get a hold on SAMSUNG they need to make devices FOLLOWING AT&T's formula for service and not making their own. Samsung was on 4G first. as soon as we lauch LTE all of out non-apple products for AT&T will be 10x faster. Apple DOESNT even have that compatibility for IP4. its just a fancy paperweight, for all Im concerned. the best device by far has been the 3GS.
 

Seanozz

macrumors member
Jun 23, 2010
51
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8J2)

justinfreid said:
My guess is that nearly every single consumer, any person looking to purchase an Apple product, would know, without any doubt that unless you see an :apple: it's not one of Steve Jobs' creations.
Samsung may have infringed upon some of Apple's patents, even while they were supplying many of the components Apple was using to build those products, but the argument that a hypothetical consumer could mistake a Samsung phone for an iPhone falls flat.
Wouldn't Apple's marketing department make that argument? Maybe Samsung will subpoena Phil Shiller and see if can at once claim that he's good at his job and that there's room for error in the average consumer's mind about what constitutes an Apple iPhone versus a Samsung Whatever-Silly-Noun-or-Adjective.

You wouldn't say that if u realized how dumb the average consumer actually is.

Do you know how many people actually used to use cd trays in early tower computers as drink holders?

You really think that caliber of consumer might not get confused. Lol
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8J2)



You wouldn't say that if u realized how dumb the average consumer actually is.

Do you know how many people actually used to use cd trays in early tower computers as drink holders?

You really think that caliber of consumer might not get confused. Lol

Yup. ;)

kingsizehomermain.jpg
 

EnergonCube

macrumors member
Aug 17, 2009
31
0
Re: Really?

Never underestimate the stupidity of mankind.


My guess is that nearly every single consumer, any person looking to purchase an Apple product, would know, without any doubt that unless you see an :apple: it's not one of Steve Jobs' creations.
Samsung may have infringed upon some of Apple's patents, even while they were supplying many of the components Apple was using to build those products, but the argument that a hypothetical consumer could mistake a Samsung phone for an iPhone falls flat.
Wouldn't Apple's marketing department make that argument? Maybe Samsung will subpoena Phil Shiller and see if can at once claim that he's good at his job and that there's room for error in the average consumer's mind about what constitutes an Apple iPhone versus a Samsung Whatever-Silly-Noun-or-Adjective.
 

JoEw

macrumors 68000
Nov 29, 2009
1,583
1,291
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8J2)



You wouldn't say that if u realized how dumb the average consumer actually is.

Do you know how many people actually used to use cd trays in early tower computers as drink holders?

You really think that caliber of consumer might not get confused. Lol

totally agree :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hJXS0eCEKA
 

SockRolid

macrumors 68000
Jan 5, 2010
1,560
118
Almost Rock Solid
A "saving face" lawsuit at best

After Apple's infringement suit was lodged, I'm sure Samsung's top brass went to their legal department and said "What can we do to make it look like we're fighting back?"

The result? A nuisance suit that only had PR value.
 

ivladster

macrumors 6502
Jun 29, 2007
480
9
Washington DC
I'm sure Apple has a working prototype of the iPhone 5, and a Prototype of the next iPad in their labs.. Are you going to say that when the iPhone 3GS was the main iPhone, the next iPhone didn't exist? Well thats wrong, because a clumsy Engineer left it behind in a bar.... and it was indeed the next iPhone!:rolleyes:

Things that are not publicly released are hypothetical and not real. That's what he meant. I am sure Apple have plans for next 3 iPhones but that's no way at any final stage to even consider a real product.
 
My guess is that nearly every single consumer, any person looking to purchase an Apple product, would know, without any doubt that unless you see an :apple: it's not one of Steve Jobs' creations.
Samsung may have infringed upon some of Apple's patents, even while they were supplying many of the components Apple was using to build those products, but the argument that a hypothetical consumer could mistake a Samsung phone for an iPhone falls flat.
Wouldn't Apple's marketing department make that argument? Maybe Samsung will subpoena Phil Shiller and see if can at once claim that he's good at his job and that there's room for error in the average consumer's mind about what constitutes an Apple iPhone versus a Samsung Whatever-Silly-Noun-or-Adjective.

As stated consumers are ill-informed. A lot of people don't care about the company. It doesn't matter to them if it's made by Apple or Samsung, or IKEA. They just want that phone their friend showed them. Or that phone on the commercials. Oh this one looks like it, I'll take it.
 

justinfreid

macrumors 6502a
Nov 24, 2009
501
23
NEW Jersey / USA
Never underestimate the stupidity of mankind.
You wouldn't say that if u realized how dumb the average consumer actually is. Do you know how many people actually used to use cd trays in early tower computers as drink holders?
You really think that caliber of consumer might not get confused. Lol
As stated consumers are ill-informed. A lot of people don't care about the company. It doesn't matter to them if it's made by Apple or Samsung, or IKEA. They just want that phone their friend showed them. Or that phone on the commercials. Oh this one looks like it, I'll take it.

Is that really your point of view on consumer behavior?
First, how many people that have ever posted to MacRumors are so "ill-informed" that they wouldn't know an Apple product from a non-Apple one? Certainly someone out there knows something about what they're buying.
Don't you think people have an idea about even the brand of shoes they're wearing? How could Apple have ever been successful if consumers can't differentiate between it as a brand and Samsung or Sony or whoever? They'd just wonder like zombies through malls, pick up any laptop that they see, ignore the words or logos on it and say it was manufactured by company X?

Many posters who are convinced that the average consumer is a no-nothing idiot seems more to be reveling in their own perceived superiority to that person rather than actually engaging on the topic. Wiser people might acknowledge instead that an average person wouldn't know instinctively looking at the front of a Samsung touchscreen smartphone and an Apple one who made it and discuss the implications of that.
Even a person who has no idea of the features of an iPhone, part of the 50% who never synced it and still doesn't know you can email photos from the phone, can figure out who made it.
What does the name SAMSUNG written across a product mean?
What is the marketing department at Apple for?
 
Last edited:

winston1236

macrumors 68000
Dec 13, 2010
1,902
319
After Apple's infringement suit was lodged, I'm sure Samsung's top brass went to their legal department and said "What can we do to make it look like we're fighting back?"

The result? A nuisance suit that only had PR value.

agreed
 

IvanTheBearable

macrumors newbie
Jul 15, 2008
5
0
Is that really your point of view on consumer behavior?

...

Don't you think people have an idea about even the brand of shoes they're wearing?

...

Even a person who has no idea of the features of an iPhone, part of the 50% who never synced it and still doesn't know you can email photos from the phone, can figure out who made it.

I can't comment on the average phone buyer but I can tell you about one phone buyer (a friend of mine) who purchased an Android phone (I forget which one) thinking she was buying an iPhone. The fact that it had a touch interface was all she needed to make the connection. She would most certainly know what brand of shoe she is wearing but, when it comes to technology she switches off. I'm the other way around. I wouldn't have a clue what brand my shoes are.
 

MacinDoc

macrumors 68020
Mar 22, 2004
2,268
10
The Great White North
Is that really your point of view on consumer behavior?
First, how many people that have ever posted to MacRumors are so "ill-informed" that they wouldn't know an Apple product from a non-Apple one?
The people posting on Macrumors in no way represent the typical consumer.
What is the marketing department at Apple for?
The purpose of Apple's marketing department is to convince consumers that Apple's products are different from Samsung's. Conversely, the purpose of Samsung's marketing department is to convince consumers that they aren't. That's the essence of this lawsuit - Samsung's attempt to present their phones as if they are iPhones - and there are consumers out there who won't know the difference unless it is pointed out to them, since Samsung is clearly trying to cause confusion with the manner in which they are designing their phones, their OS and even their marketing campaign.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.