Legal

Samsung designer: we didn’t copy Apple’s icons

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 14, 2012

Attorneys for Apple embarrassed Samsung last week by showing the jurors half a dozen images meant to prove that the Galaxy maker shamelessly ripped off the look of the iPhone's icons. Though Apple believes that Samsung’s TouchWiz interface makes it a copycat, that's ultimately up for the jury to decide.

Today, a Samsung designer took the stand to testify that she didn’t copy Apple when creating the icons for the Galaxy line of products. Call me stupid, but how the heck then she'd managed to come up with icon design that strikingly resembles Apple's?

Apple licensed its prized design patents to Microsoft with an “anti-cloning” agreement

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

A surprising revelation from the Apple v. Samsung litigation as Apple patent licensing director Boris Teksler took the stand today to testify before a San Jose court, revealing that Apple licensed its design patents to Microsoft, but with an "anti-cloning agreement" to prevent copying of the iPhone and iPad.

To make this matter more interesting, we're talking about essentially the same design patents that Apple is asserting against Samsung in the high-stake trial...

Surprise, a lot of folks get confused between Apple and Samsung products

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Seriously, do you know anyone who in their right mind would mistaken a Samsung phone for an iPhone? Anyone? If your answer is a resounding 'no', congrats - you're officially a geek, just like yours truly.

Now, Apple's been arguing from the onset that the extent of alleged copying of its industrial design exhibited in Samsung's work introduces a strong likelihood of customer confusion between the two brands.

While gadget lovers whose morning routine includes skimming through tech news cannot grasp how anyone could possibly mistaken a gadget with the Samsung logo for one with a bitten apple on it, to those outside the tech circles - you know, the general public, average consumers and Joes Schmucks of this world - the similarities are painfully obvious.

Specifically, one in two thought they saw an iPhone when presented with an image depicting a Samsung phone...

Confidential Apple, Samsung sales data revealed in court documents

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

The Apple v. Samsung case is a peep show of sorts, a pornographic public showing of the two technology giant's closely kept secrets to the extent that we have for the first time been allowed to examine a bunch of early device prototypes, read internal communication about Apple's engineering process, including tidbits like Apple's 'kitchen' brainstorming, and laugh over such mundane things as stickers on court exhibits.

And now, a very important and confidential piece of information has also been publicized, Apple's and Samsung's sales numbers...

Here’s how much Apple is demanding in damages per each Samsung device

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

It was recently suggested that Apple wanted Samsung to pay as much as $2.5 billion in damages for allegedly copying its iOS devices: $500 million in lost profits, $25 million in royalty damages and a whopping $2 billion for the profits Samsung “unjustly received” using Apple’s intellectual property.

A new report breaks down the figure on a per-device basis, as outlined in an exhibit prepared by accounting consulting firm Invotex Group, which specializes in calculating royalty rates for litigation...

Industrial design expert on why Samsung is the copyist

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2012

Samsung has been called the copyist by Apple many times over, the first time in court documents the iPhone maker filed as part of patent infringement claims brought against its frenemy in April of 2011.

But evidence is mounting that Samsung slavishly copied some areas of the iPhone experience, like the iPhone's gorgeous icons.

On Monday, Apple brought in an expert to testify before a northern California court where the iPhone and Galaxy makers locked horns in the patent trial of the century...

The Nexus 7 “Smart Cover” in action — how should Apple respond?

Jeff Benjamin ∙ August 2, 2012

Today I received my Nexus 7 "Smart Cover". Okay, it's really just a bulky case, but it closely mimics the function of Apple's innovative means of screen protection. I ordered it simply to compare it to Apple's original version of the Smart Cover.

As you have probably heard, the Nexus 7 contains an unadvertised feature — magnets on the front right-side of the device, which very much imitate the iPad's sleep/wake functionality.

Should Apple be upset with this unadvertised feature?

Apple demands sanctions against Samsung over evidence leak

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

When Samsung on Monday publicized previously excluded evidence related to its F700 phone and other devices it had been working on before the iPhone came along (to establish prior art), the company didn't just anger Judge Lucy Koh, it also drew ire of Apple's legal team.

Cupertino is now asking the court to rule in its favor because Samsung's unusual move was in an attempt to prejudice the jury. Because of that, Apple's attorneys are saying the court should rule that Samsung infringed Apple's patents as a way of punishing the South Korean conglomerate for misconduct...

Poll: is Samsung’s F700 an iPhone copy?

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 1, 2012

An interesting argument arose in the Apple-Samsung litigation related to Samsung’s F700 handset. As you know, Samsung sought to present this and other handsets - but the F700 in particular - as trial evidence of prior art that they were designing handsets akin to the iPhone before Apple got to announce its phone in January of 2007.

Judge Lucy Koh excluded that device and a bunch of other Samsung phones from the hearings, but Samsung defiantly publicized the slides yesterday, angering the Judge.

Apple had originally included the F700 as patent infringing in its suit, but later dropped it as it realized Samsung was working on this before the iPhone was released and especially after learning that Samsung applied for a South Korean design registration application in December of 2006, a month before the iPhone’s public unveiling.

Kill me but I just don't see any similarities between the F700 and the iPhone, especially not ones that could establish prior art for either party.

Maybe you do?

Samsung: we went public with excluded exhibits because you asked for it

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

As we reported yesterday, Samsung has gotten itself in some hot water with Judge Lucy Koh who strongly condemned its attorneys' decision to influence the jurors by publicizing previously excluded evidence. Samsung was hoping to sway the court of public opinion by releasing a set of slides and a media release which it hoped to use in the litigation to establish that Apple sough inspiration for the iPhone's design from Sony, as its product chief suggested in a pre-trial interview.

The Judge demanded that Samsung's legal team reveal who exactly drafted the press release and who authorized it. The Galaxy maker today filed a brief responding to Judge Koh's request which explains Samsung's reasoning behind the unusual move...

Judge angered at Samsung for publicizing excluded evidence

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

We're only two days into this patent trial of the century and already things are getting out of control in the courtroom. Even though Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung's request to present to the jury its pre-iPhone F700 device meant to establish it did not copy the iPhone, the South Korean consumer electronics maker just issued a press release with two batches of evidence Judge Koh specifically excluded from the litigation...

Phil Schiller re-iterates Apple doesn’t ask consumers what they want

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

It's day two of the monster Apple vs. Samsung trial and Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller testified, but only briefly as the jury was dismissed for the day. What came out of him reflects Steve Jobs' notion that it is Apple's rather than the consumers' job to know what they want.

He also mentioned Apple New Product Process for exploring new products and revealed it was he that Steve Jobs sent the vacation photo to at the 2007 MacWorld introduction of the iPhone...