Apple Targets Samsung With New Lawsuit Over 'Galaxy' Line

[iPad 2]

Wait, so they should be able to clone a competitor's product's industrial design as long as they don't undercut the competitor's price?

No, my point is they're not designed to be marketed and sold as cheap knock off that confuse customers.

Anyone can tell them apart, just from the bottom button alone if nothing else.

 

[yodaxl7]

shame really that Apple is resorting to Microsoft-esque tactics. If you can't beat em, just sue em, mentality.

Thats like saying that Coca-Cola should sue Pepsi

Xerox PARC should have aggressively sued Apple when the GUI was becoming commercialized.

NO, Apple did not invent the first GUI Operating System. Xerox made the first GUI in their Alto systems. Xerox only sued (late for that matter) when Apple sued Microsoft for their GUI OS (Windows).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Xerox_Alto.jpg/240px-Xerox_Alto.jpg

Let's say we had a science test and I sit next to you. I made an A and you made an A. I didn't study and you did. Will u tell on me?

 

[polaris20]

There are several ways to lose a patent. One way is not to defend it. Another ways is trying to defend bogus patents and have the court invalidate it.

That's true, but in this case the similarities are so close I'd hardly call it bogus.

 

[gnasher729]

Obviously you mean Samsung is biting the hand that feeds them as they are ripping off their biggest screen component customer.

You are right it is dumb for Samsung to have done that, and I am sure the people who run the screen business are pissed as hell at the idiots in the cell phone and tablet division who pissed off their best customer.

I think they are all adults, and they keep these things very separate. If someone said to their colleagues in another department "don't buy screens from Samsung, we are involved in a lawsuit" or "don't sell screens to Apple, we are involved in a lawsuit", the answer would be "are you mad? They are our best supplier, I don't care about any lawsuit" or "are you mad? They are our best customer, I don't care about any lawsuit".

Indeed. Apple spends less on R&D than many of their competitors.

1. It is not what you spend that matters, it is what you results you get.
2. How efficient is the money spent? Apple brutally cut R&D on stuff that doesn't turn into products.
3. A lot depends on how you classify your cost, which in turn depends a lot on your tax laws.

 

[Nuvi]

couldn't Samsung simply get back at Apple by NOT making Apple's stuff? I mean, come on.

Unfortunately they could. At the moment part manufacturers hold lot of power especially when in comes to screens. In all honesty I find it very strange that Apple hasn't found some other way to deal with Samsung.

If Apple wants high resolution AMOLED screens for their future products then Samsung could easily say "No" just because even with their current pace they are working very hard trying to meet the demand. For example HTC was forced to use Sony SLCD screens for some of their products because Samsung couldn't manufacture enough AMOLED screens to meet the demand for all of their customers.

 

[LagunaSol]

What, precisely, did Samsung blatantly "rip off" from Apple?

Perhaps you didn't read the first sentence of the very comment you quoted, which clearly stated "industrial design" and "user interface," neither of which has anything to do with any of the hardware specifications you brought up.

Technically, they should sue every PC manufacturer on Earth for every ounce of silicon ever produced, because, after all, Apple did invent the personal computer.

Strawman fails.

 

[jmcrutch]

Many of this board's comments are great examples why our founding fathers, with great wisdom, chose to form our country with a republic for its government rather than a direct democracy.

 

[marksman]

Wow apple is way out of line here, this is not right. That's like if the first company to create a netbook sued every other company who made a netbook afterward.

That does not make any sense as a comparison at all. First of all a netbook is just a laptop.

Imitation is the sincerest of flattery
Charles Caleb Colton Lacon: or, Many things in few words, 1820

Many other examples of the same thought—though not as eloquent or quotable—antedate even this.

The Caleb estate will be suing that other guy for infringing on his comments.

Indeed. Apple spends less on R&D than many of their competitors.

It is expensive to reverse engineer everything.

shame really that Apple is resorting to Microsoft-esque tactics. If you can't beat em, just sue em, mentality.

But they are beating them, beating them all. Beating them to a pulp in the phone market, and obliterating them in the tablet market. The only chance the competition seems to believe they have is copying Apple.

They are beating them to tiny bits. So they are beating them and suing them.

 

[coder12]

Have you looked at the TouchWiz UI? It's almost identical to iOS - dock at the bottom, pages of icons in a grid and you even remove applications in the same way as you do on the iPhone. I've nothing at all against competition for iOS, but they shouldn't just rip the design off


http://www.sizzledcore.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Galaxy-S-24-375x500.jpg

Thanks! I was gonna post that myself but you already did it for me
I'm not for this, but samsung really should go out on a limb and develop their own "style" of os for their little phones, or just use android default or wp7. I remember using a galaxy and thinking, "wtf mate?".

 

[LagunaSol]

No, my point is they're not designed to be marketed and sold as cheap knock off that confuse customers.

Anyone can tell them apart, just from the bottom button alone if nothing else.

Irrelevant. Just because I stick a Ford logo on the hood doesn't mean I can make my new Mustang look like a Porsche Carrera clone.

Industrial design is legally protected work. And should be. It doesn't matter how you price your competing product.

 

[ten-oak-druid]

The samsung devices look like rebranded apple products.

The GUI looks very similar.

This is really bad.

 

[lilo777]

Perhaps you need to actually look at an iPhone 3GS and a Galaxy Tab sometime.

http://www.coated.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-back.jpg

http://phonerpt.com/wp-content/uploads/iphone-3g-white-live-picture.jpg

Also consider these designs:

 

[bloodycape]

Didn't the touchwiz ui first get introduced in 2007, around the same time the iphone was first introduced in their P2 video player and their Symbian based phones? Not really sure if they look like they do know, but I know that branding has been around for a while.

 

[Stella]

While I don't care who sues who - in the end the laywers win.. and yes, Samsung UI is very similar to iPhone..

However, the iPhone GUI isn't new at all.

Take a look at this screen shot of the SE P910 UI, released well before iPhone.

Conceptually, the UI is very similar - in that that you have:

(1) application icons
(2) Application short cuts ( at the top )
(3) Power , strength and other status indicators etc ( at the bottom )

I'm sure there are many other examples of conceptual similar iPhone UIs that contain the same properties and behaviour and layout out ina similar fashion.

 

[kre62]

Call me crazy, but I think this might lend creedence to the thought that iPhone 5 will come out this summer...

How are these connected?

Well I've been thinking that Apple really wants to show the world, investors, etc, that it can still keep secrets after the i4 debacle last year. I think its possible they have changed suppliers in an atempt to stop the leaks. They might also be fueling the disinformation campaign that puts the 5 in October.

The fact that they are now suing Samsung, and waited this long, might give validity to this theory, as they did not want to sue them while Sammy was still a key supplier for them.

Something to think about.

 

[coder12]

Don't bite the hand that screws you.

That's what she said?

 

[ChazUK]

Irrelevant. Just because I stick a Ford logo on the hood doesn't mean I can make my new Mustang look like a Porsche Carrera clone.

Industrial design is legally protected work. And should be. It doesn't matter how you price your competing product.

How many other ways are there to design a simple tablet/touch screen phone before they start looking the same?

A car has many design elements that these slate type devices don't have the luxury of.

 

[ivladster]

I guess I can see Apple's point. But, aren't all tablets going to have a similar style and interface? It would seem like there can be only marginal differences in a touch screen interface.

Not really. Google is actually pretty different from iOS. It's Samsung who chose to edit the interface and all those icons to look like iPhone. That's why Apple is going straight after Samsung. Android OS has some similarities but overall they are pretty different.

 

[ten-oak-druid]

Just because I stick a Ford logo on the hood doesn't mean I can make my new Mustang look like a Porsche Carrera clone.

On that subject, auto companies do this within their own brands. Ford will make a Lincoln and a Mercury that is the same as a Ford model but with a different name on it.

I never understood that about the auto industry. If you buy up competition and keep the name around instead of folding the acquisition into the one brand, then do something unique with each brand. Ford/Lincoln/Mercury for instance should divide up product lines between brands. Ford could be brand name of the truck line while the other two are brand names for luxury and compact cars for instance. But the experts will say this is silly. LOL

 

[jmcrutch]

While I don't care who sues who - in the end the laywers win. ....

Actually, YOU win. The United States provides for patents to "promote" and "further" advancements in the things that we all come here to discuss everyday. One can argue the merits of such a system but that is one of the purposes of the patent laws. Basically, incentive to make the world a better place for all.

Take away the incentive and there might not be as much innovation.

 

[ivladster]

The fact that they are now suing Samsung, and waited this long, might give validity to this theory, as they did not want to sue them while Sammy was still a key supplier for them.

Something to think about.

Actually Apple just recently got granted those designs for iOS and iPhone 3GS, they were waiting for US Patent Office to approve them.

 

[marksman]

I think they are all adults, and they keep these things very separate. If someone said to their colleagues in another department "don't buy screens from Samsung, we are involved in a lawsuit" or "don't sell screens to Apple, we are involved in a lawsuit", the answer would be "are you mad? They are our best supplier, I don't care about any lawsuit" or "are you mad? They are our best customer, I don't care about any lawsuit".

I guarantee you that the division that sells screens to apple is pissed about this, and that Apple tried to work on this internally with Samsung before filing suit.

I know how different divisions of large corporations interact, and I guarantee you the divison making smartphones and tablets are at odds with the screen supplying over this and whatever else.

People that run large divisions often don't care about the other divisions and are only worried about themselves, even if it screws other parts of the company over.

The customer has the leverage in this situation and pissing them off is just a really bad idea.

Believing that Apple wouldn't change suppliers is just ignorant. This is the kind of thing that gives them motivation to start pushing harder with other companies to create screens for them, because Samsung has become an unreliable partner. Instead of just being happy with their relationship, Samsung has jeopardized it and given Apple motivation to look for other partners.

It has put the long term business of selling that many screens to Apple in jeopardy.

 

[ericinboston]

Samsung will simply pay a hefty amount to Apple and we will never hear anything about this again.

Exactly. And how different has/is Windows 9x/XP been from Mac OS (and vice versa) over the past 15 years? What about tvs? Receivers?

Come on...the iPhone look/feel has been out for quite awhile anyway...it's not like the competitors released products 6 months after the iPhone.

Regardless of how many examples we can list here, this lawsuit ridiculous...a lot of things/products in life are going to look/feel very similar...especially in computers.

 

[petsounds]

Suing for patent infringement is one thing, and Apple certainly holds some patents regarding the features of the iPhone and iPad. However, you cannot sue for look & feel. Apple should know this better than anyone after losing its protracted lawsuit in the 80s against Microsoft, which was based on Windows taking GUI elements of the Mac OS.

 

[lilo777]

Call me crazy, but I think this might lend creedence to the thought that iPhone 5 will come out this summer...

How are these connected?

Well I've been thinking that Apple really wants to show the world, investors, etc, that it can still keep secrets after the i4 debacle last year. I think its possible they have changed suppliers in an atempt to stop the leaks. They might also be fueling the disinformation campaign that puts the 5 in October.

The fact that they are now suing Samsung, and waited this long, might give validity to this theory, as they did not want to sue them while Sammy was still a key supplier for them.

Something to think about.

You are crazy. If anything, this might indicate that iPhone 5 will be delayed for a year or two. Apple will have to build it's own factories for LCD panels, RAM and flash memory chips.