Ban on Sale of Samsung Galaxy Smartphones in EU Set for October 13th

[BaldiMac]

I didn't say anything of the sort. I am quoting a source.

You said:
"I guess Apple think if they can't beat them, try and physically stop them...?"

That is something of the sort.

 

[Navdakilla]

Wow haha, the ban is over photo swiping?!

Samsung should just release a software update changing that. Easy fix

 

[a.gomez]

fantastic. all the we own a rectangle, rounded corner nonsense failed

 

[M-O]

Samsung swiped the swipe?

1 vote here for the "Surely that's too obvious to patent, that's just a design decision not an innovation" side.

yea, so obvious that it only took 20 years of mainstream GUI usage to make it to an OS.

 

[ChazUK]

Well something's up, because Apple's case is passing the legal tests each time.

Did you fail to RTFA? Most of their claims have been rejected it would seem

The judge's decision was relatively narrow compared to the claims brought by Apple, which included a number of assertions that Samsung had copied Apple's product designs and functionality. The judge rejected most of those claims, finding only that Samsung had violated an Apple patent related to using swiping gestures to switch between photos in a gallery application.

 

[LagunaSol]

Android: Free* and Open**. From Google.

* Patent infringement cases may incur additional fees. Please consult with your attorney.

** Not really.

 

[Oletros]

That's your opinion. Mine's a bit different.

Samsung phones; their operation, design, marketing and packaging all very closely mimic the iPhone. Plenty people agree to it. As I said previously, the Ace looks very similar to the iPhone4 another devices look a lot like iPhone3G.

Please disagree as much as you can, but the copying is pretty clear.

No, it's not my opinion, is the court veredict.

Well something's up, because Apple's case is passing the legal tests each time.

No, Apple case regarding trade dress is not passing legal tests.

And I don't think that having patents invalidated is passing legal test, do you?

 

[Bakloyd]

"Boy have we patented it". Steve Jobs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JZBLjxPBUU

LOL he wasn't kidding at all. He had a serious face even after saying it and the crowd was laughing .

 

[Bilbo63]

I may be wrong, but as I understand it, Apple still have many patents filed on innovations and tech that went into the iPhone that have yet to be approved.

One would think that there will be more of this to come as pending patents are approved.

Steve did say "and boy, have we patented it!".

 

[MRU]

Would it not be possible for Samsung to release a software update that changes the photo scrolling feature to some extent and hence get out of this ban ?

Regardless of the rights or wrongs of the infringement... it's not making Apple look good in the eyes of consumers who just want free choice, or carriers who can not be sure of stock of phones because of all the squabbling.




Speaking for myself I was hoping to sell my Galaxy S2 (bought because iPhone 4 on vodafone Ireland is a disaster) at the time of the iPhone 5 launch which will now correspond ironically with this supposed ban. Hope it increases my sell price. It's a really nice phone but I miss the iPhone and HDR camera feature from iOS, and Android Marketplace just doesn't have the same choice and the biggest disappointment... KIES for mac is appauling.

 

[pubwvj]

Nonsense

This nonsense is stifling creativity.
Apple needs to drop this.
They are already beating Samsung in the market place and that is where it should matter.

 

[the8thark]

Ok.

Looks like it's time for Samsung to up their game.

EDIT:

That's right, vote this comment down. The stark (and uncomfortable) reality is that Apple's case actually has merit.

Quoted for truth. A lot of the patent wars are crazy. Apple's rectangle + glass patent is crazy. I dunno how Apple was even granted it. But for the patent in question Samsung very clearly and knowingly infringed on it. And has to pay the penalty for doing so.

 

[AAPLDroid]

Maybe, but I think it's a bad thing. Consistency across OSs is a good thing; for many of us who use Windows and OSX you find lots of similarities in the design and usage of the UI. It helps the user a lot that scroll bars are always at the right and bottom, drag bars at the top of windows, the cut/copy/past keystrokes are similar etc. Likewise with mobile OSs.

If Apple says "No, you can't do anything the same way we do" it'll be a pain for users, more than for Samsung.

Yeah I couldn't agree more. Software patents definitely need a revamp to achieve that consistency. I own both Android and iOS devices and the two OS each has their own strong points and shortcomings. Both platforms can benefit so much by co-existing peacefully and not trying to wipe another out by invoking ridiculously broad patents. For example, the notification centre will finally be included in iOS5 not to mention that Android has certainly borrowed its fair share from iOS given their lead. In the end it's a win for consumers everywhere.

 

[Tom8]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

This nonsense is stifling creativity.
Apple needs to drop this.
They are already beating Samsung in the market place and that is where it should matter.

How is it stifling creativity? The whole point of the suit is that Samsung aren't being creative & have copied Apple's creativity with the patent in question.

Edit: Thumb this post down all you want, but you know fine well, that in this case what i've said is true.

 

[iGeert]

Judgement Day. At last.

 

[divinox]

In another court case the Dutch court raised a question with the European court if they were allowed to judge about these international (read: EU/Europe) things. Up until now there has been no reply so the Dutch court assumes that it can. Since Norway isn't part of the EU but Europe than this means the ban also applies to them. However, if the European court says that the Dutch court isn't allowed to rule about these things than this ban does not apply to countries other than the Netherlands.

This ruling also shows that the article about the EU Design Model by osnews.com is incorrect. The court looked at the entire context and then draw conclusions. This is also a very important part of Dutch law: it is the idea and not just the text that counts. If you would only look at the text you'd get away with theft if you simply returned it. Since they look at the idea (you shouldn't take something that isn't yours and you didn't get approval for) you can be convicted anyway.

The findings from some people regarding prior art and the enquiry done by Apple are also things the court mentions in its ruling. The swipe to unlock patent is seen as invalid because of prior art in the form of the Neonode phone.

Wrong. Russia is also part of Europe. They probably couldnt care less about a judge in NL. If ruling applies in Norway it is due to bilateral agreements between Norway and the EU, not Norway being part of continental Europe.

Edit: I was wrong too. I was still thinking about the community design registrations. The EPO is apparently not an EU organization. Point still remains however. Whether or not ruling applies in Norway is not due to its geographical location, but legal agreements.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

This is actually a victory in my opinion for everyone but Apple. Apple lost the meat and potatoes of their argument. Samsung changes the photo editor and case closed, everyone moves on. This hurt gamble has done more damage to Apples reputation than it did protecting its "IP".

 

[The Great Boony]

Wow haha, the ban is over photo swiping?!

Samsung should just release a software update changing that. Easy fix

Not that easy... any software release would have to be by Google, then they'd have to pass it on to all the network operators to play with it...

 

[Madmic23]

This is as stupid as patenting that when I move my mouse left, the cursor on my screen goes to the left.

Good point. Think I can still patent that?

 

[kdarling]

I'm not certain that I understand the objection to protecting one's patents. If you invent something, whether or not everything thinks that it's great and, in hindsight, obvious, why should you not have the opportunity to get credit, income, and rights to your work?

I've been doing touch apps for decades on devices large and small, fixed and portable, capacitive and not.

One problem is with the types of patents being allowed:

- A detailed patent on a touch detection algorithm might make sense.

- A patent on what we call a "gesture vocabulary" should never be allowed. That includes using multiple fingers to do different tasks, swiping of any kind, gesture sequences and so forth.

You see, many of these things have been thought of long ago, but no one thought to patent them because they're human gestures. The fact that Apple got any of these type of patents, just tells me that the examiners have very little touch experience... and that gesture patents of any kind should be banned. It's like patenting the way you play a guitar chord.

That said, I remember this patent. It's a little more specific than just swipe. Let me review it.

 

[Bilbo63]

I wholeheartedly agree that the patent system needs an overhaul.

That said, the iPhone in both it's hardware and UI was truly innovative. There was nothing like the iPhone, until the iPhone. There was a ton of development money invested by Apple to make the first iPhone.

Google ripped off Apple's work to create Android while other hardware makers mimicked the hardware. Now how many iPhone copies do we have?

No matter what Apple does, the droid fanboys argue that Apple's innovations are "obvious". Of course they seem obvious NOW because we are used to them. They weren't obvious a few years ago.

Like it or not, the droid phones of today only exist because the iPhone came first and gave them something to copy.

 

[peterdevries]

I swipe my butt after i go for a #2, should I be concerned?

Only if you swipe sideways (which I don't recommend btw).

 

[ChazUK]

This is actually a victory in my opinion for everyone but Apple. Apple lost the meat and potatoes of their argument. Samsung changes the photo editor and case closed, everyone moves on. This hurt gamble has done more damage to Apples reputation than it did protecting its "IP".

From my (very basic) understanding, this may have repercussions on Android as a whole as the stock Gallery app behaves the same on all Android devices that use it.

 

[K42]

This is actually a victory in my opinion for everyone but Apple. Apple lost the meat and potatoes of their argument. Samsung changes the photo editor and case closed, everyone moves on. This hurt gamble has done more damage to Apples reputation than it did protecting its "IP".

That's right, and actually that is more or less the verdict of at least one of the major newspapers in the Netherlands.

 

[rdrr]

yea, so obvious that it only took 20 years of mainstream GUI usage to make it to an OS.

Totally agree. You know why other mp3 players succeeded like the ipod? The scroll wheel... Hate Apple if you must and call it anti-competitive behavior, but if you patent and are the first to implement a new way to navigate (even if its obvious), you should reap the rewards and protect your right to do so.