[Updated] Apple Brings Lawsuit Against Samsung

[bplewis24]

New updated "news"
Shows a Samsung premiered in 2006 before the iphone came out.

Did Apple Really “Steal” Their iPhone Design From Samsung? [Pot, Meet Kettle]


I liked this part of the article:
"The answer: no one is stealing from anyone. Apple didn’t invent icons, nor did they invent the grid in which they sit. They didn’t invent the rectangle. They didn’t invent the touchscreen. They surely didn’t invent the nice looking button sitting at the bottom. And last, but not least, they didn’t invent phones."

The bolded portion is my favorite part. Also, I'm getting a good laugh from the people defending Apple on this one when they clearly have no leg to stand on. My favorite defense is the icon argument. I'm sure Samsung is the only vendor that uses a phone image for the phone icon.

Apple should sue every smartphone manufacturer, because they're clearly stealing from them with the settings wheel icon. In fact, they should sue Sony too, because I have that one on my PS3 and my TV.

Brandon

 

[Asperity]

The bolded portion is my favorite part. Also, I'm getting a good laugh from the people defending Apple on this one when they clearly have no leg to stand on. My favorite defense is the icon argument. I'm sure Samsung is the only vendor that uses a phone image for the phone icon.

I don't think you understand the what trade dress infringement is, or are aware that Apple has used it successfully in the past to more or less remove products from the market (see the eMachines reference in the article I linked.)

I've got a Captivate (and an iPhone 4, which is now relegated to an Alarm Clock docked to an iHome radio), and the stock Touchwiz is very iPhone-ish. Whether you agree to or not, the fact is trade dress is considered a form of intellectual property protected under the Lanham Act. Apple isn't trying to claim that they own the concept of the phone icon representing the phone, but rather that Samsung's implementation was done intentionally to mimic the iPhone's trade dress.

Why is the Samsung icon green with a white background and showing the phone titled in an angle similar to the iPhone's (which is trademarked)? Why did they use a gear like the iPhone icon instead of say, a wrench or a screwdriver, or a wrench and hammer criss-crossed? Google "settings icon" and there are plenty of alternatives to the gear. Why does the gallery icon (which is a stock Android icon, and thus probably explains why the Nexus S is included) have a flower on it? Couldn't a picture frame do just as well? Why does the Touchwiz launcher use dot indicators located at the top of the screen to show the current screen? The music player is undeniably a thinly veiled attempt to mimic the iTunes icon. Only a Samsung apologist would argue otherwise.

As for the patent portion of the lawsuit: nobody here is a patent lawyer, but we can all see and have seen some of the ridiculous patents granted by the PTO. At this point, any affirmation or dismissal of the legitimacy of the patent portion of the lawsuit is purely conjecture. But any objective observer can see that Apple has a legitimate case for trade dress infringement.

 

[RyanPm40]

Uhm, google's setting icon IS a gear...

 

[OneTenderRebel]

Uhm, google's setting icon IS a gear...

not the stock google icon, the HTC sense icon may be a gear though.

 

[jroc]

New updated "news"
Shows a Samsung premiered in 2006 before the iphone came out.

Did Apple Really “Steal” Their iPhone Design From Samsung? [Pot, Meet Kettle]


I liked this part of the article:
"The answer: no one is stealing from anyone. Apple didn’t invent icons, nor did they invent the grid in which they sit. They didn’t invent the rectangle. They didn’t invent the touchscreen. They surely didn’t invent the nice looking button sitting at the bottom. And last, but not least, they didn’t invent phones."

These Android fanboy websites should get their facts straight before posting dumb crap. That samsung phone was announced AFTER the iPhone and didn't come out until December of 2007.

Samsung F700 - Full phone specifications
news SAMSUNG
Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide
Samsung SGH-F700 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Do you need me to post more links proving it was released well after the iPhone.

Look at when the F700 was announced. There is even a Youtube clip of it being demoed at some show like CES or something in Feb 2007.

[video=youtube;B_283G1vuKk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_283G1vuKk&playnext=1&list=PL8A509407D3AA2FB1]YouTube - Hands-on with Samsung F700[/video]

Now, the question is: how good is Samsung at doing a massive redesign overhaul to make the F700 look like whatever it was before to what it was in Feb 2007, one month after the iPhone was announced?

That iPhone article had hardware designs of the iPhone and was comparing it to the Galaxy S.

My answer is even if it was redesigned, it had to have a base design to begin with. Unless Samsung really can totally redesign a phone in a month. Thats a slider too.

Why not go after Samsung for the hardware design of the F700? Why mention the Nexus S in the lawsuit?

I know this is an Android forum and "Apple is the enemy" to some ppl. But cmon...

Touchwiz? Ok fine. Remove the background from the icons and be done with it.

 

[nerdslogic]

it just seems that the description of "a rectangular shape with rounded corners and black frame" matches almost every phone I see now a days.

 

[jroc]

The bolded portion is my favorite part. Also, I'm getting a good laugh from the people defending Apple on this one when they clearly have no leg to stand on. My favorite defense is the icon argument. I'm sure Samsung is the only vendor that uses a phone image for the phone icon.

I don't think you understand the what trade dress infringement is, or are aware that Apple has used it successfully in the past to more or less remove products from the market (see the eMachines reference in the article I linked.)

I've got a Captivate (and an iPhone 4, which is now relegated to an Alarm Clock docked to an iHome radio), and the stock Touchwiz is very iPhone-ish. Whether you agree to or not, the fact is trade dress is considered a form of intellectual property protected under the Lanham Act. Apple isn't trying to claim that they own the concept of the phone icon representing the phone, but rather that Samsung's implementation was done intentionally to mimic the iPhone's trade dress.

Why is the Samsung icon green with a white background and showing the phone titled in an angle similar to the iPhone's (which is trademarked)? Why did they use a gear like the iPhone icon instead of say, a wrench or a screwdriver, or a wrench and hammer criss-crossed? Google "settings icon" and there are plenty of alternatives to the gear. Why does the gallery icon (which is a stock Android icon, and thus probably explains why the Nexus S is included) have a flower on it? Couldn't a picture frame do just as well? Why does the Touchwiz launcher use dot indicators located at the top of the screen to show the current screen? The music player is undeniably a thinly veiled attempt to mimic the iTunes icon. Only a Samsung apologist would argue otherwise.

As for the patent portion of the lawsuit: nobody here is a patent lawyer, but we can all see and have seen some of the ridiculous patents granted by the PTO. At this point, any affirmation or dismissal of the legitimacy of the patent portion of the lawsuit is purely conjecture. But any objective observer can see that Apple has a legitimate case for trade dress infringement.

And here is my take:

I would agree it might be more about Touchwiz. But looking at the icons you posted....Apple has a patent on using a gear and a flower to identify something on a phone? Its doesnt even look the same. Its just a pic of a gear and flower. Apple has a patent on using dots to indicate pages?

If thats the case, damn near every home replacement for Android better be on alert. So.... what if Touchwiz made the dots longer, stretched out, made em squares, would that still be considered a problem?

I understand trying to protect your idea n all, but cmon. If anything I would think Apple might have a case for the icons having backgrounds.

But as you say, as far as I know no one here is a patent lawyer.

 

[kptphalkon]

All I have to comment with is that,

Geez, people can patent any old thing these days right? Then by that right God can sue us all for stealing on his universal ideas, huh?

[I wrote up a 7 paragraph simile relating apple, samsung and motorola with children in an art class drawing flowers. I ultimately decided that since I have no real knowledge of the legal system, it would have held as much sway as a deer asking a hungry wolf not to eat it, pwetty pwetty pwease]

In short....Well, in short I just don't give a damn because this world is ridiculous. Apple can go sue-happy on whoever they want over bad drawings of flowers and tools, instead of say not caring and donating that legal money to people who need it. Whatever.

 

[kodiak799]

it just seems that the description of "a rectangular shape with rounded corners and black frame" matches almost every phone I see now a days.

They might make a case with the silver border, but as far as a black frame that is fairly standard on many tv's and computers, some of which undoubtedly came out before the IPhone. I'm surprised they didn't try to patent a 3.5" screen or whatever.

And while the icons may be similar, I don't think nearly enough to an issue. Some don't look even that similar, and as for the phone icon...c'mon!

 

[honeyandroid]

just look like iphone?

why is that iphone on the OP says samsung on it?

That's because its the Galaxy S and not an iPhone.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

It means just look like iPhone but not really iPhone.

 

[Swis21]

Its too android to be confused with the fruit.
With Samsung printed at the top being the first clue

 

[SquireSCA]

This is bull crap. There is only so much you can do with a phone. Sure the UI is very similar, but they're not exactly the same. I think Samsung wanted to bring a very simple and easy to understand UI. How much more simplistic can you get than that.
I personaly don't like the TouchWiz launcher, but I love every other part of it. The power widgets, and instant music controls on the pull down notifications area are awesome. It's those little things that make the user experience very simple and fun. This lawsuit is just a waste of time.

Most interfaces end up being similar, be it phones or computers.

I mean really, put OSX next to Win7 and OpenSuse Linux and they all share a lot of things. Start bar and task bar, apps running next to the clock, "My Computer" icons and launchers, etc...

It's how things work. They each have their own flavor, but they are all largely the same mechanically and in layout.

Maybe if Apple spent less time with frivolous lawsuits, they could spend some money on R&D for the iPhone and give it a decent sized screen, 4G, SD card, and the other features that have been standard for some time now and that people want...

 

[SquireSCA]

New updated "news"
Shows a Samsung premiered in 2006 before the iphone came out.

Did Apple Really “Steal” Their iPhone Design From Samsung? [Pot, Meet Kettle]


I liked this part of the article:
"The answer: no one is stealing from anyone. Apple didn’t invent icons, nor did they invent the grid in which they sit. They didn’t invent the rectangle. They didn’t invent the touchscreen. They surely didn’t invent the nice looking button sitting at the bottom. And last, but not least, they didn’t invent phones."

The bolded portion is my favorite part. Also, I'm getting a good laugh from the people defending Apple on this one when they clearly have no leg to stand on. My favorite defense is the icon argument. I'm sure Samsung is the only vendor that uses a phone image for the phone icon.

Apple should sue every smartphone manufacturer, because they're clearly stealing from them with the settings wheel icon. In fact, they should sue Sony too, because I have that one on my PS3 and my TV.

Brandon

Bingo. Most icons for settings or config, even on computers, typically has either a gear or a wrench, or both.

And the icon for notepad has a picture of a post-it or notebook paper... What do they expect people to use?

And the phone one, what should other companies use for the phone icon, a turtle? Maybe a hamburger? I mean really...

And texting, has a bubble like every cartoon dialogue has had since the 1930's...

They are fishing.