Apple Adds New Samsung Products to Infringement Lawsuit, Strengthens Assertions

[MacRumors]

Earlier this week, we noted that Apple had filed a response to Samsung's patent countersuit, calling a recent motion by Samsung to gain access to unreleased iOS hardware an "attempt to harass" and irrelevant to the case at hand. The filing came just ahead ahead of a deadline for Samsung to share its unreleased hardware with Apple.

Apple yesterday made another move in the chess match, amending its complaint against Samsung to strengthen the language and to include a number of new Samsung models, including some of those set to be turned over to Apple today, as infringing products.

Many of the changes are designed to portray Samsung's alleged infringement as an incredibly outrageous act of copying. The original complaint already accused Samsung of "slavishly copying" Apple's designs. The amended one stresses that Samsung "has been even bolder" than other competitors emulating Apple's products and has created "products that blatantly imitate the appearance of Apple's products to capitalize on Apple's success."

In addition to the original 15 Samsung models cited in Apple's lawsuit, the following models have been added: Droid Charge, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S (i9000), Gravity, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, Sidekick, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy S II. Apple has also tweaked some of the patent claims included in the lawsuit, removing a few assertions and adding other patents to the mix.

Apple's dispute with Samsung is being closely watched for a number of reasons, including Samsung's recent strong growth with the Android platform, Samsung's role as a prominent supplier for components of Apple's iOS devices, and the vociferousness of Apple's claims of outright copying by Samsung accompanied by numerous side-by-side comparisons in support of the claims.

Article Link: Apple Adds New Samsung Products to Infringement Lawsuit, Strengthens Assertions

 

[IzzyJG99]

I gotta admit that does look like a bad Chinese iPhone clone right there....

 

[jontech]

Blatant Ripoff

Go into any store with both phones in question and you will see Samsung showed no shame in ripping off the look and feel.


Gotta side with Apple on this one.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

I gotta admit that does look like a bad Chinese iPhone clone right there....

Funny thing is the iPhone has more Samsung components in it than most of you think.

 

[mactree]

See there's a big difference. Samsung has the little dots that show you what page you're on at the top.

 

[FrizzleFryBen]

I try to learn a new word everyday. Thanks to MacRumors it's "vociferousness". I have no idea how to say it or what it means, but I'm going to butcher the hell out of it!

 

[sicn]

See, their big faux pas was to not use Google's original look and feel but opted to make its own TouchWiz UX, which I must agree is a total rip off of the Apple home screen. The telephone (hardware) itself, however, doesn't look that similar. It looks like a phone, that's it

 

[dustinsc]

You can only do so much to make a smart phone look original, but those Samsung phones really do look like blatant rip-offs, more fitting for a Chinese company than a Korean one. Why don't they emulate HTC, which offers some actual advantages?

 

[0815]

I try to learn a new word everyday. Thanks to MacRumors it's "vociferousness". I have no idea how to say it or what it means, but I'm going to butcher the hell out of it!

Vociferousness
A scream, shout, holler, vociferation, or yell is a loud vocalization in which air is passed through the vocal cords with greater force than is used in regular or close-distance vocalization. ..

 

[ranReloaded]

[...]In addition to the original 15 Samsung models cited in Apple's lawsuit, the following models have been added: Droid Charge, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S (i9000), Gravity, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, Sidekick, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy S II. [...]

...and don't forget to add the 'Unsurmountable', the 'Ubiquitous', the 'Pretentious' and the 'Majestic'... I'm pretty sure some of those are real (or at the very least, in the drawing board right now).

Seriously, 'Prevail'? What is this, a speech by George W?

 

[supmango]

It sounds like they are going to sue each other into oblivion. The fate of many companies in today's world, I'm afraid.

 

[ten-oak-druid]

Its going to get interesting.

Apple suing Samsung and Nokia turning their eyes on Google next. And Oracle wants billions from Google.

Meanwhile Google is trying desperately to buy license some of Nortel's patents so it has something to make deals with.

 

[ranReloaded]

You can only do so much to make a smart phone look original, but those Samsung phones really do look like blatant rip-offs, more fitting for a Chinese company than a Korean one. [...]

They're pretty close to chinese-grade in terms of tackiness.

Disclaimer:No offense intended to all the decent, original and innovative chinese people out there.

 

[TheUndertow]

Funny thing is the iPhone has more Samsung components in it than most of you think.

That's exactly the problem. Apple works closely with them in a lot of regards.

For the company to the come back and emulate the look AND feel (design) of your devices (with success selling competitive platform) is treachery.

 

[ranReloaded]

What I can't believe is Samsung asking to see the yet-to-announce Apple prototypes in exchange. They are being accused of copying. That would be like some dude accused of robbery in a court asking you the keys to your home in exchange for his confession.

 

[flottenheimer]

There no doubt that had Apple never turned it's attention towards mobile phones, the Samsung phones of today would have looked and behaved nothing like they do now.

Case closed.
Bring on the benjamins.

 

[Popeye206]

I think their big mistake was pretty much photocopying the home screen and layout of iOS.

Also, as the other poster points out. See it in person and it could easily be mistaken for an iPhone.

Samsung should just change the UI design of the OS and end this.

 

[0815]

What I can't believe is Samsung asking to see the yet-to-announce Apple prototypes in exchange. They are being accused of copying. That would be like some dude accused of robbery in a court asking you the keys to your home in exchange for his confession.

Well, the sooner they see the new prototypes the sooner they can start copying (remember, they went back to the drawing board after the iPad2 came out) ...

But seriously: What I think is they just wan't to make some sort of point: "hey, Apple will sue us whatever we do, now we need to see the prototypes to protect from that by finding similarities early" ... they argued in the law suit that they need to see them to protect themselves from apple (NOT because they think Apple copies). Big difference ... but still a joke in my opinion.

 

[Popeye206]

There no doubt that had Apple never turned it's attention towards mobile phones, the Samsung phones of today would have looked and behaved nothing like they do now.

Case closed.
Bring on the benjamins.

It's possible none of the smart phones would look the way they do now. You have to remember what was out there before the iPhone.... cluncky confusing phones with horrid OS's and bulky confusing hardware that looks like junk today. I even doubt Android would be as far as they are without the iPhone.

 

[ten-oak-druid]

There no doubt that had Apple never turned it's attention towards mobile phones, the Samsung phones of today would have looked and behaved nothing like they do now.

Case closed.
Bring on the benjamins.

True.

Now you will see someone post some image that predated the iphone with a similar feature or two. Yawn. These people don't see the big picture.

 

[macphoria]

Is this Hardware or Software issue?

If this is hardware issue, I do see iPhone resemblance in Samsung hardware and I believe Apple has valid case.

But looking at the software, how much can Apple hold Samsung liable since Samsung device uses Android software which isn't entirely Samsung's product?

Can someone shed some light on this?

 

[jonnysods]

Wow that does look very similar.

But is that enough?

 

[chrono1081]

Go into any store with both phones in question and you will see Samsung showed no shame in ripping off the look and feel.


Gotta side with Apple on this one.

Agreed. Verizon employees where I live call these phones the "iSamsungs" and they are VERY similar to the iPhone, down to the icons.

 

[Icaras]

Go Apple! I support this.

 

[*LTD*]

Apple was waiting for this. It was a long time coming. They were waiting for just the right moment.

Test the waters with only one or two Samsung knockoffs. See what happens. The court gives Apple the go-ahead and now the floodgates are open.