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So all that is left is to discuss the actual merit of the trade dress claim, of course, something that will in the end be up to the judge.

We can use pictures all we want, something tells me Samsung is just going to bring in devices into the courtroom. Pictures can be misleading as certain angles/shots might make ressemblances show up that aren't quite there.

Also, it remains to be seen how much the judge will accept generic things like "rounded corner", since I don't think I've ever had a phone without rounded corners and how much in the end, he decides that the devices to ressemble or not each other.

Do you know of someone that looked up the icon trademarks on the USPTO site ? Did Apple even register them (I know you don't have to, unless you want punitive damages) ?

No such thing as punitive damages here. In any event, they did register them. I posted on this earlier. They registered three trade dresses too.
 
Let's not forget that big companies file lawsuits not only when they think they have a rock solid case.

Lawsuits are also filed to 1) deter competitors (not only the specific one that gets sued) and 2) raise a point in the media (in this case the point being Apple invents, competitors are copycats).

Of course, had the case been deemed totally unfounded by Apple Legal and their bunch of advisors, it wouldn't have been brought to court at all.
At the same time, if there is any chance that the case has some merit, a company will sue for sure, if points 1 and 2 above are not considered to do more damage than good.

Conversely, solid lawsuits are not brought forward because of the bad impact sueing might have in the media.

In this case Apple might have sued not necessarily because they think they'll win, but also, and maybe most importantly, to reinstate their position in the market. Even though some might read this as a crazy action from Apple, it is also likely that people with no particular tech interest (and still potential customers) will hear about it and get the message that Apple is defending what they have invented against a copycat.
 
Who says? Some people refer to the Samsung F700, but that was shown for the first time a month after the iPhone, and released about five months after the iPhone. (Faked images by Android fanboys won't count in court).

LG prada was shown before iphone was shown. And it shares lenty of things with the iphone that was released later.
 
Of course, had the case been deemed totally unfounded by Apple Legal and their bunch of advisors, it wouldn't have been brought to court at all.
At the same time, if there is any chance that the case has some merit, a company will sue for sure, if points 1 and 2 above are not considered to do more damage than good.

There is probably some merit to some of the claims, so are probably more ambitious and some are probably completely sure to get thrown out. The thing is, the more claims they throw in there the better they have a footing for eventual settlement negotiations.

Just like you never open with your lowest price, you never open with only the claims you are 100% sure are going to win. ;)
 
I thought Samsung went too far when they included little white stickers in the shape of apples inside the box.
 
Apple filed similar suits again HTC and Nokia last spring. You'll notice that the ITC is not favoring Apple's claims.
 
The suits aren't very similar at all.

They're similar enough that an average person should be able to make a connection. Apple is filing a lawsuit against Samsung that doesn't have much chance of sticking, but that's not even the point, they want to scare Samsung into a settlement in all likelihood.

Think deeper. They're more similar than you think they are.
 
They're similar enough that an average person should be able to make a connection. Apple is filing a lawsuit against Samsung that doesn't have much chance of sticking, but that's not even the point, they want to scare Samsung into a settlement in all likelihood.

Think deeper. They're more similar than you think they are.

What makes you say it has no chance of sticking? Have you read the complaint? I have. I also read the ITC filings. They're not alike at all. The claims cover different IP, and even different TYPES of IP.
 
I noticed that the HTC and Samsung cases only share just one patent: the bounce-back one.

And the Samsung adds many trademark and state law unfair competition claims.

Arguing that they're the same because Apple will lose them both is bootstrapping.
 
Copying is copying. If someone else came out with an iProduct you can bet that Apple would slap a lawsuit on them. The Apple record logo was around for several years before Apple computer. I'm sure Jobs knew of the Beatles, he was a long haired hippie back in the 70's. So the logo could have been influenced by the Beatles.

Copying is not copying when you don't even know about what was done before...and we know the story about what influenced Apple, the alphabet. And the logo isn't even the same - it's the name that the suit was over, not the logo. Knowing about the record label wasn't on the front page of the newspaper, this was the 1970's...there was no internet, it's more than just a little possible that Jobs did not know this. And you're assuming that logo was everywhere, and you're wrong.
 
It does not matter that it was not US company as long as they were registered in US. Remember Apple suing Australian supermarket chain company for using as their log letter W which slightly resembled an apple?

It did matter back then, when the best you could do was apply for a trademark in the US and be approved or not be approved. Apple is a global company, trademarked all over the world...not in the 70's.
 
Are you aware that Apple copied the ibooks GUI from another software vendor? I remember seeing it years (like in G4 era) before ipad was out, before iBook. It was for keeping inventory of books on a mac.

I'm not gonna bother going looking for the link/screen shot but trust me, that look was used by another software vendor, BEFORE apple used it. And of course that's one reason this wasn't mentioned in the suit I'm assuming.

Edit:
Actually here it is.

http://www.delicious-monster.com/

Image


Won apple design award in 2005. And when was iBooks introduced?

And the co-creator of that product is a UI Designer working on the iPad. Nice work.
 
Knowing about the record label wasn't on the front page of the newspaper, this was the 1970's...there was no internet, it's more than just a little possible that Jobs did not know this. And you're assuming that logo was everywhere, and you're wrong.

Actually, anyone above the age of six knew about Apple Records.

We all lived and breathed vinyl back then :)
 
Actually, anyone above the age of six knew about Apple Records.

We all lived and breathed vinyl back then :)

You're right, but I don't even know why I'm arguing this point - using a logo from a record label for a computer company is not nearly the same thing as using another computer company's designs to make products that compete with it.
 
Choosing icons that have taken on universal meanings and thus are similar, is quite a bit different from direct copying, of which we see none.

The closest ones in that group are probably the phones, and yet if you search for a phone icon on the web, or even on cell phone buttons, probably a quarter of them are slanted. Moreover, green is an extremely common color for the primary phone button, which is why Apple chose it themselves.

The use of rounded square icon backgrounds is a bit more damning, but still a style choice. Also, Apple's has a shadow and my Fascinate doesn't have the rounded square on most anyway.

Btw, I have noticed that Apple hasn't tried to claim ownership of the twirling wait symbol, but a lot of us were using that before they were.

I think Apple might have much better luck showing that the Galaxy phone shape greatly resembles the 3GS.

ooh i was just waiting for that magical term 'generic' that we always hear about after another 'copy' comes along. 'Style choices' is a classic, are you a politician?

"Hey look at how well designed that iPhone is I think I'll make a few 'style choices' and copy every single one of their icons..then have my lawyers deem them all generic".
 
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