Florian Mueller's blog is pretty much required reading for people trying to follow the progress in Apple's legal fight with samsung in Europe.
Yesterday the
German court issed a statement basically upholding its earlier ruling.
There are a number of issues at stake here. But of particular interest is the indication that the Court:
Emphasis Mine.
It is also worth noting that these are only
preliminary injunctions. That Samsung's lawyers may yet present evidence that persuades the Court to rule in its favor. Its also worth noting that, in general, German Courts and Law tend to be more favorable to Rights Holders than other Jurisdictions. (The reasons for this date back to medieval Craft Guilds.. but thats another story entirely.)
Lastly, I wouldn't hold up Florian Mueller as an infallible oracle of wisdom. But he does have a pretty good understanding of the way IP law works in the EU.
I wouldnt add that emphasis. Why? Well, based on the fact that the Judge(s) view Design registrations as something worth "medium range of protection, if not a broad one" it is hard to get a grip on the "continuum" so to speak.
Clearly, she found it "similar enough to investigate further", however. And like stated by Florian, as she feels that there are different ways to make the same product i guess it is likely that the final verdict will say the same (i.e. that it is similar enough to infringe (which is not equivalent with "ri
Florian Mueller's blog is pretty much required reading for people trying to follow the progress in Apple's legal fight with samsung in Europe.
Yesterday the
German court issed a statement basically upholding its earlier ruling.
There are a number of issues at stake here. But of particular interest is the indication that the Court:
Emphasis Mine.
It is also worth noting that these are only
preliminary injunctions. That Samsung's lawyers may yet present evidence that persuades the Court to rule in its favor. Its also worth noting that, in general, German Courts and Law tend to be more favorable to Rights Holders than other Jurisdictions. (The reasons for this date back to medieval Craft Guilds.. but thats another story entirely.)
Lastly, I wouldn't hold up Florian Mueller as an infallible oracle of wisdom. But he does have a pretty good understanding of the way IP law works in the EU.
I wouldnt add that emphasis. Why? Well, based on the fact that the Judge(s) view Design registrations as something worth "medium range of protection, if not a broad one" it is hard to get a grip on the "continuum" so to speak.
Clearly, she found it "similar enough to investigate further", however. And like stated by Florian, as she feels that there are different ways to make the same product i guess it is likely that the final verdict will say the same (i.e. that it is similar enough to infringe (which is not equivalent with "rip-off").
Anyhow, this is turning into a farce. Just saw a pic of a W8 tablet this morning (which may ofc. just be concept). Will Apple dare to go after anyone who makes an "ipad-looking W8"-tablet? MSFT is a different beast from Google, and im not sure either party wants to open that can-of-worms. Anyway, it will be nice to get everything clarified in the end. Exactly what is it that you are not allowed to do. And; what happens if everyone else now starts filing design-registrations like hell? How will anyone ever be able to produce anything without infringing? Is that really the development we want to see?
(and i can guarantee that MSFT, unlike Google, will stick behind its OEMs in court).
Edit: Just realized, as the app is just concept i guess the pad is too. Still, the scenario is interesting.
----------
I still use my SE K750i that I've had since 2006. Best phone I've ever used and is a lot better as a phone than iPhone. If I want a smart phone, i.e. a phone that really is a small computer, I'll concede that the iPhone would be better than my K750i. I most likely will get a smart phone soon, and I was seriously considering iPhone 5, but after Apple's recent behaviour I can't do that in good conciousness.
As long as you resort to condecending and insulting people no one will take you seriously, not that I personally ever have.
The hater here is you, hating everything non-Apple and people with differing opinions.
Thankfully, many phone makers still make the effort to create slide-out keyboards. Typing on physical keys is so much nicer than virtual keys. The on-screen keyboard is only a trade-off to get the thinnest possible phone with a large display.
(i) I feel the same. I think i'll pick up a Nokia this fall, assuming they actually get a design looking at least nearly as good as their concepts. Feels strange to view MSFT as the good-guy of sorts, given their past. But its hard not to these days (Google i simply dont trust, same reason ill never use chrome despite it probably being top notch - its bad enough that i use their search
).
(ii) Did you see MSFTs patent on the sliders? The "one-surface thing" or how one should describe them.
