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UK Judge says Galaxy Tab 'not as cool' as iPad, awards Samsung win in suit

79 pointsby mrsebastianalmost 13 years ago

5 comments

rkaplanalmost 13 years ago
This article is very misleading. Here is the actual full statement, courtesy of <a href="http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/46416/samsung-statement-apple-court-ruling-britain" rel="nofollow">http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/46416/samsung-statement-appl...</a> :<p>"In a ruling on July 9, 2012, the High Court of England &#38; Wales sided with Samsung that the designs of the Galaxy Tab series of products are 'different' from an Apple tablet design, and do not infringe Apple’s Registered Community Design No. 181607-0001. Samsung products subject to this trial were the Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Galaxy Tab 8.9, and the Galaxy Tab 7.7.<p>"Samsung had requested this voluntary trial in September 2011, in order to oppose Apple’s ongoing efforts to reduce consumer choice and innovation in the tablet market through their excessive legal claims and arguments. Apple has insisted that the three Samsung tablet products infringe several features of Apple’s design right, such as 'slightly rounded corners,' 'a flat transparent surface without any ornamentation,' and 'a thin profile.'<p>"However, the High Court dismissed Apple’s arguments by referring to approximately 50 examples of prior art, or designs that were previously created or patented, from before 2004. These include the Knight Ridder (1994), the Ozolin (2004), and HP’s TC1000 (2003). The court found numerous Apple design features to lack originality, and numerous identical design features to have been visible in a wide range of earlier tablet designs from before 2004.<p>"Equally important, the court also found distinct differences between the Samsung and Apple tablet designs, which the court claimed were apparent to the naked eye. For instance, the court cited noticeable differences in the front surface design and in the thinness of the side profile. The court found the most vivid differences in the rear surface design, a part of tablets that allows designers a high degree of freedom for creativity, as there are no display panels, buttons, or any technical functions. Samsung was recognised by the court for having leveraged such conditions of the rear surface to clearly differentiate its tablet products through 'visible detailing.'<p>"Samsung welcomes today’s ruling by the High Court, which affirms Samsung’s commitment to protect its own intellectual property rights while respecting those of other companies. Samsung believes Apple’s excessive legal claims based on such a generic design right can harm not only the industry’s innovation as a whole, but also unduly limit consumer choice."
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andyjohnson0almost 13 years ago
The full judgement is here: <a href="http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Judgments/samsung-apple.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Judgment...</a><p>The word "cool" appears twice, and the quotes from the Engadget article are there (albeit selected from a long document).<p>Kind of strange to read a British High Court judge commenting on coolness in industrial design.
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phpnodealmost 13 years ago
is this just an ingenious way of preventing an appeal by Apple? They probably don't want to see headlines like "Apple claims Galaxy Tab 'just as cool' as iPad"
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grabehalmost 13 years ago
This decision is limited to registered design right and so has limited effect. However, it is the right decison and is well reasoned notwithstanding the judge's reference to the respective coolness of each of the products.<p>I am surprised that Apple's lawyers advised them to pursue the claim considering the prior art and the basic nature of the designs. Having only just looked at Apple's registered design on the OHIM website, it is a little laughable (resembling a dinner tray on first impressions).<p><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/zhto46p2jphrq27/apple.bmp" rel="nofollow">https://www.dropbox.com/s/zhto46p2jphrq27/apple.bmp</a>
rickmbalmost 13 years ago
Funny enough this suggest that the judge understands the subtleties of design better than the tech-heads at Engadget, who like so many others regularly claim competing products match the design quality of Apple products.<p>It always irks me when people, especially professional critics and reviewers, call it a matter of taste just because they can't spot the difference. It isn't. Personal preference is a matter of taste, but the difference in design quality between Samsung (or HTC, or Dell, etc) and Apple is objectively observable. Just like there is a clear difference between a TV set designed by Samsung and one by Bang &#38; Olufsen or Loewe.<p>(Which is exactly why I believe Apple should stop suing second rate look-alikes. If people want to buy Samsung they were never potential Apple clients in the first place, and if Apple wants that market too they should just build products for it.)
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