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Samsung Halts Galaxy Tablet Promotion In Germany

An anonymous reader writes "Samsung Electronics said Sunday it has pulled its latest Galaxy tablet from the IFA trade show in Berlin, after a German court approved an Apple-requested injunction — the latest move in a wide-reaching patent dispute between the two firms."

53 of 325 comments (clear)

  1. That backfired. by drolli · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Clever, Apple, clever. Today from the "How do i make my competitor look more important than he probably is"-department.

    Attention for free. Show you tablet one day on a Exhibition, then get the free headlines that "It was pulled due to a court order from Apple".

    This directly makes the tables an competitor to the ipad (which they are not, they have different audiences, different sizes, and different advantages/disadvantages; i could well imagine to buy both).

    1. Re:That backfired. by drolli · · Score: 2

      i bought a first gen galaxy-tab and it has proven to be what i expected it to be:

      -Universal e-book reader
      -good device for viewing documents of all kind
      -fits in the pocket of my hiking trouser
      -reasonable web browser
      -excellent software selection
      -easy to develop your own small apps

      i find the hickups which seem to be related to samsung using an own filesystem a little annoying, but overall the decision was right.

    2. Re:That backfired. by AndGodSed · · Score: 2

      The only way someone this late in the game is going to buy an Android tablet is one of three ways:

      1) Integrated as part of an ereader (B&N, soon Amazon, etc)

      2) Potential customer has never used an iPad before

      3) Potential customer bought online without test driving one in a store first

      *AHEM*

      I bought a first gen 7" Tab, and will get one of the newer ones later this year/early next year.

      To answer your three points one by one:

      1) It isn't an integrated e-reader (obviously) but the Amazon Kindle app works fantastically on it.

      2) I used iPad 1's extensively before making my buying devision - I was even given one to use for two days and reviewed it for my blog. I dislike it.

      3) Further to my point above, I used the iPad 1, and since it came out the iPad 2 as well.

      Now to my buying decisions specific to me getting the 7"er GTab P1000

      1) Petter dot pitch, or pixel density of screen resolution. (easier on the eyes to read)
      2) At least similar internal hardware specs.
      3) No walled garden crap.
      4) It has a better form factor than any larger tablets - iPad cannot be compared here because I dislike any of the 10" tablets - for my use they won't work.
      5) It makes and receives phonecalls and sms'es. It is also my phone - one device to perform two functions.
      6) I can easily build apps for it myself. (and I have - not in market, personal use for notifying when one of my works webservers decide to go bork)
      7) 3G/HSUPA, WiFi and GSM on my 16gig model for less than an iPad 3G would cost, and I can add a flash card if I so choose - no need so far.

      I have not rooted my device, no need. Two things the iPad does better than the gTab is MUCH better battery life (I usually get a day to a day and a half out of my Tab) and the viewing angle on the iPad screen is better. I gladly live with those two for all the other advantages it has.

      The Tab is a superior device.

    3. Re:That backfired. by JanneM · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "The only way someone this late in the game is going to buy an Android tabletâ¦"

      25 million tablets sold. 1.1 billion people in the industrialized world. About 2.3% of the developed world population owns a tablet. That's "late in the game"?

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  2. It just shows how stupid the patent law is. by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple did not invent the tablet PC, but they want to ban anyone else from making anything resembling a tablet PC.

    1. Re:It just shows how stupid the patent law is. by webmistressrachel · · Score: 4, Informative

      There is NOTHING unique about the iPad, certainly nothing unique that other manufacturers do.

      Shape and size? The natural results of designing a case around a screen, CPU, RAM, battery etc.

      Material? Common in the Hi-Fi and A/V industry. Copied, blatantly, by Apple.

      Software? OS? Walled garden? Unique, and UNWANTED by everyone that hasn't bought this tablet!! (and uncopied by any other maker!)

      --
      This tagline was transcoded to result in at least one smirk. If you experience failure to smirk, please consult your Gen
    2. Re:It just shows how stupid the patent law is. by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Informative

      Shape and size? The natural results of designing a case around a screen, CPU, RAM, battery etc.

      Don't forget that Apple actually lied in court by showing distorted images making the sizes look the same when they are quite different. The previously did the same thing with the Galaxy Samsung S phone so this is a well tried tactic by Apple

    3. Re:It just shows how stupid the patent law is. by nosferatu1001 · · Score: 2

      What, a curved black rectangle?

      That isnt "design"

    4. Re:It just shows how stupid the patent law is. by psergiu · · Score: 2

      MediaMarkt sales people (EU electronics store chain) were instructed to sell "Samsung iPads" to the clueless customers. When my non-technie cousin tried to buy a iPad the sales guy told him: "Get the Samsung iPad - it's better, it has flash". The fact that the Galaxy looks a lot like the iPad to the untrained eye, helps a lot with this scam.

      --
      1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
    5. Re:It just shows how stupid the patent law is. by ninetyninebottles · · Score: 2

      They'd be much more convincing if Apple wasn't out there suing everybody else as the 'creator' and 20-year owner of the 'pinch to zoom' gesture...

      Which would be a valid argument if they were, but Apple doesn't have a patent on "pinch to zoom". They have a patent on a very specific function where "pinch to zoom" is applied multiple times sequentially on a touchscreen and the first one clues the OS into the fact that other gestures within a preset amount of time are likely to be the same UI input even if the normal algorithm for determining it is a "pinch to zoom" would not have detected it as such. That was a real innovation and it was an innovation that was copied by the Android OS makers without license. If you can find prior art for that, well it would be awesome and an excellent thing for Android going forward. Please do present it.

      I won't go into your other points because I don't feel like doing the research, but YOU should do the research before making these kind of claims in future. Just reading a superficial summary by a magazine looking to get more hits will not result in being informed about a topic. Talking points don't make for understanding an issue.

  3. Counter claim: 3, 2, 1 by Teun · · Score: 3, Interesting
    It would greatly surprise me when Samsung isn't preparing a monumental counter claim to make up for lost revenue.

    Apples claims will not stand up to reality.

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    1. Re:Counter claim: 3, 2, 1 by whisper_jeff · · Score: 2, Informative

      Apples claims will not stand up to reality.

      Yet, so far, in numerous courts, around the world, their claims are standing up.

    2. Re:Counter claim: 3, 2, 1 by advocate_one · · Score: 2
      it is a religion... scientific tests have shown the same regions of the brain become active as those in religious followers when shown objects of their faith

      The neuroscientists ran a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test on an Apple fanatic and discovered that images of the technology company's gadgets lit up the same parts of the brain as images of a deity do for religious people, the report says.

      The first episode of the documentary shows Apple employees "whipped up into some sort of crazy, evangelical frenzy" at the recent opening of an Apple store in London.

      --
      Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  4. Re:Why the hell are they allowing this? by Chrisq · · Score: 3, Insightful
  5. Re:epic backfire by EdZ · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Um, your link itself explains that Apple sued Samsung first, over "allegedly copying it's products".

  6. Will this bite Apple? by Zouden · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder if this will end up hurting Apple because it will start people thinking that if Apple is trying tactics like this to stop sales of the Galaxy Tab, then the Galaxy Tab must offer serious competition to the iPad. Apple normally don't resort to legal tactics to stop competitors since they can usually rely on producing a better product.

    The fact that the display booth at IFA was hastily covered up just smells of desperation on Apple's part. Of course it's more complicated than that, but most people won't see it that way. I suspect this battle will just result in bad PR for Apple, and extra publicity for Samsung.

    --
    "A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
    1. Re:Will this bite Apple? by bjourne · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Doubt it, those of us who value digital openess are already avoiding Apple products like the plague.

    2. Re:Will this bite Apple? by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      No.
      1. Most consumers don't know and don't care.
      2. Apple is still turning out high quality.
      3. Most consumers feel good about choosing a winner.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:Will this bite Apple? by igb · · Score: 2

      I wonder if this will end up hurting Apple because it will start people thinking that if Apple is trying tactics like this to stop sales of the Galaxy Tab, then the Galaxy Tab must offer serious competition to the iPad.

      What proportion of the potential iPad market follows technology court cases, forms an opinion on them and then uses that opinion to influence their purchasing decisions? 0.1%? More? You think?

    4. Re:Will this bite Apple? by somersault · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Most consumers feel good about choosing a winner.

      Thankyou. I've never heard this put quite so well before. You have succinctly defined what it is that I don't like about people who buy Windows or iDevices without ever seriously considering the alternatives.. and why the cycle can perpetuate such godawful products for so long.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    5. Re:Will this bite Apple? by manekineko2 · · Score: 2

      I don't think it's impossible (like all the smug other responders in this thread seem to think) that public opinion could hurt Apple in the long run.

      Microsoft's bad behavior back in the 90's were arguably even more removed from the world of the average consumer than Apple's current behavior. However, given a few years, public opinion among even the average consumer on the street did sour against Microsoft.

      Sure, it wasn't enough to break their monopoly on operating systems, but how much do you think it cost Microsoft to be a not-cool brand? How much do you think it hurt their attempts to break into the phone market, which is overwhemlingly likely to be the operating system market of the future? How much do you think it hurt their attempts to break into the video game market, where they basically had to give away an entire generation of consoles to compete?

      Apple lives and dies on its cool brand factor. If they act like a dick for hard enough and long enough, eventually it might come back to bite them.

    6. Re:Will this bite Apple? by fferreres · · Score: 2

      It's going to hurt them in a much different way, at least to some degree. This trial convinced me that I don't want anything to do with these guys. previously, I was agnostic. I have an iPod Touch, and a G2 iPhone. I preferred the iPhone 4 to the phone I have now, but didn't plan to spend that much on plans, so I opted for an Android device. I also did not like how their restricted the devices to only AT&T, or Telmex in Mexico. I also didn't like the batteries running out. And that I didn't like to have to jailbreak/unlock for things like using a phone I owned with a different carrier in a different country. And I didn't like having to prevent iTunes from autoupdating. And I didn't like iTunes sitting by my computer. I didn't like that if I switched phone brands, all the apple stuff I bought would be gone, even if the code is 90% similar in android or blackberry for thing many games ad apps. Back to the carrier choice limitation, it's not only that I didn't like to have to spend more on a more expensive plan. I didn't like that it made the larger carriers more powerful, hurting the smaller ones through them becoming even smaller, exacerbating the quasi-monopoly the top telcos have. This happened in Mexico for instance. So I was left with almost no other choice (the two alternative companies are bankrupt/almost chapter 11). I also didn't like to chose my telecom carrier due to the handset I wanted to use. I want to switch carriers. That's the only way competition works. If you will not change because you have all your apps, data, etc. in one or two places (carriers), you are accepting a tax on vanity. I didn't want that either. I also didn't like that you cannot replace the battery, use mp3 that you could backup with some other tool, and many many other things. But I could live with that, ultimately

      But when they claim a design patent like the one I read, and when I see they altered the aspect ratio, and when I listen that the competing product (with different ratio, extensive prior art, different size, OS, etc) is banned from a country, then at that point I know I don't want to be associated with that company anymore.

      Why?

      Because I don't entertain the idea of giving money to companies I no longer respect. I think there may be many other people that no longer respect Apple, and many more are realizing that they are genius as making thing simple to use. But the designs, they get from somewhere else. And rewrite history as they please along the way.

      Apple is the "coolest" company to avoid starting today, for me and probably some others as well.

      --
      unfinished: (adj.)
  7. Re:Doesn't make sense by EdZ · · Score: 3, Informative

    Apple has no injunction against any Samsung 7" tablet, and hasn't tried to get one

    Samsung itself, along with hundreds of news outlets, would no doubt be interested in hearing your theory. Do you have the slightest shred of evidence to back it up?

  8. Choice decided by courts by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 2

    Well, I for one am reassured, now that courts will be controlling the scope of choice for me, when I go shopping for gadgets.

    The Galaxy is a copy? "Imitation is the highest form of flattery." Humans have been copying others' ideas since the invention of the wheel. What about the violation of the patent: "A Method and Process for Producing Fire by Rubbing Sticks Together" ?

    Hey, let the market decide . . . do you want the real thing with a chic logo . . . ? Or some cheap rip-off . . . ? Check your wallet first.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    1. Re:Choice decided by courts by galaad2 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      good artists copy, great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas

      Source: Steve Jobs himself
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU

      --
      root@127.0.0.1
  9. Re:Why the hell are they allowing this? by bonch · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For crying out loud, you're bashing Apple for going back on a promise they made 30 years ago . "Music industry" back then meant selling vinyl records. How is that lying anyway? 30 years passed before they decided to start producing MP3 playback devices in a totally different music and technology landscape.

  10. On the Engadget Blog... by theolein · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This was posted there last night, and I was pretty surprised at the anger towards Apple in the comments (The comments there have since degenerated into an Apple Fanboi vs. the rest of the world "ur mom" catfight). But the general tone is clear: Apple could not have done more or better marketing for Samsung's devices. Apple is also royally hurting its own sacred brand with these type of actions, as the perception of Apple as the feisty underdog becomes one of an abusive monopoly similar to the way Microsoft has long been perceived.

    1. Re:On the Engadget Blog... by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Engadget and Slashdot might be a LITTLE bit biased towards geeks who would probably buy a Galaxy Tab over an iPad anyway.

      I really doubt most of Apple's target market cares.

  11. Re:Germany should know better by skyride · · Score: 2

    OK, nobody is going to a war just because of some computer being denied sales but the important thing is the trend

    Statistically speaking, I don't think 1 event is a trend.

  12. Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Informative

    That's disingenuous. Also before the iPad were things like the Nokia N700 (Maemo) and the SmartQ series (Ubuntu/Wince/Android). The SmartQ devices, in particular, look a lot like the Samsung design, yet predate the iPad by years.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  13. Re:Why the hell are they allowing this? by cbope · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Are you serious? How much time has to pass, in your opinion, in order for it NOT to be a lie? Are your wedding vows still valid after 30 years?

  14. Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa by X.25 · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.designer-daily.com/android-device-design-before-and-after-the-iphone-ipad-18040

    To deny the obvious design cloning is to reach an extreme level of Apple-hating that even I can't understand.

    http://i.imgur.com/NbDRW.jpg

  15. Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa by SnowZero · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So, if visual design is what matters, and not the software (which is different since the iOS is so superior as you would remind us), what do you think about this Samsung digital picture frame from 2006?:
        http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/samsung-digital-picture-frame-stores-pics-movies-music/

    Form follows function, which is why every TV and computing device is destined to look the same once a level of miniaturization is reached. That's why you see similar tablets in a 1970s TV show ("The Tomorrow People") and a movie from the 1960s ("2001 a Space Odyssey").

    Apple certainly is a style trendsetter, but really it is more about bringing things to market that are the closest to what the visionaries have already described. There's a rather clear evolution from other mp3 players through to the ipod, iphone, and then ipad. And yes, along the way things came from non-Apple sources too.. the next iphone will have screen dimensions suspiciously like an HTC EVO, and a notification bar straight from Android. That's what happens in competition.

    I'm sorry this conflicts with your worldview that all these nice Apple products were invented in a vacuum.

  16. Re:This Apple behavior has become a mental burden by Johann+Lau · · Score: 2

    You could climb on the shoulders of another small man, hang a large coat over your shoulders and talk in a really deep voice. That might not be enough, but it would be a start.

  17. Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Did your linked page originally came from realitydistortionfield.com?

    The LG Prada phone was winning design awards months before the Iphone was first announced. Note that this article on the Prada phone is dated before the Iphone was first announced: http://mobile.engadget.com/2006/12/15/the-lg-ke850-touchable-chocolate/

    Likewise, the Ipad closely resembles prior tablets. Here's the Crunchpad prototype from six months before the Ipad was first announced: http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/03/crunchpad-the-launch-prototype/

    Here's the Knight-Ridder concept tablet from 1994 (16 years before the Ipad was first announced): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBEtPQDQNcI&feature=player_embedded#at=139

    Sorry fanboys.

  18. Re:Ridiculous by KDR_11k · · Score: 2

    Here in Germany we believe that an unfettered free market is going to be significantly worse for us than the current government.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  19. Re:Doesn't make sense by crossword.bob · · Score: 2

    Imagine if they win: They'll have a legally enforced monopoly on tablets!

    Not so. They'll have a legally enforced monopoly on a very particular design of tablets.

    Like the judge said: “There are a lot of alternative ways to design a tablet device, as the market amply shows.” Doesn't sound like he has any interest in stopping others from making tablets.

  20. Re:Germany should know better by KDR_11k · · Score: 2

    Letting your whole food production wander off to cheaper workers is a terrible idea for the stability of the country (a trade problem could cause mass starvation and Germany has always been limited in long range trade as our navies could never stand up to more seafaring nations like Britain and France). Just because our farmers need to have enough money to buy TVs and other luxury goods they aren't somehow inefficient money eaters. Everything costs more when made here but that's only cost to the consumer. Our human workers still require the same amount of nutrition for the same actions. Our machinery is the same stuff they're using anywhere else (maybe even more modern and efficient). Our farming practices are set up to keep the ground usable. We don't burn down tropical rainforest just to grab new farmland because our old areas got depleted.

    There are more costs than just the money exchanged at the supermarket. I don't disagree that international trade is heavily exploiting Africa by paying them so little they almost starve and thus pushing them to farm more cash crops and overfarm the land until it's unusable leading to rainforest burning but that's not going to get better by abolishing our own farming.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  21. Re:Apple has no choice by somersault · · Score: 3, Insightful

    . It has become so complex and relies on so many differing pieces that it is getting increasingly difficult to differentiate between products. That leaves functionality and design as a product differentiator.

    That makes no sense. If things are complicated, it's easy to differentiate. It's because the design of a tablet is so simple that all tablets look the same (barring colours, and whether to round off certain edges or not).

    Here's another choice Apple had: not suing other companies for using a shape that was around before the iPad..

    --
    which is totally what she said
  22. Android market 200% in 12 months, Apple panics by G3ckoG33k · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Android market 200% in 12 months, Apple panics

    According to http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2106625/android-market-share-doubles-apple-ios-falls-cent

    "Apple's IOS operating system (OS) has fallen eight per cent in popularity over the last year, while Google's Android OS market share has doubled"

    Apple is a sore little pesky bastard. The iPad tablets they have produced have been around for decades as precursors, and for millennia (or millenniums, if you prefer) as design cues.

    There must be some reason why Samsung decides not to fight back much harder, the initial arguments is on their side. There is a secret agenda or clue somewhere. For now, I have no idea.

    1. Re:Android market 200% in 12 months, Apple panics by Wovel · · Score: 2

      Good luck with that. Unfortunately it is based on extrapolations of data even Apple haters know is a load of crap.l

    2. Re:Android market 200% in 12 months, Apple panics by jedidiah · · Score: 2

      Android has already made the world safe for smart phones that are not made by Apple.

      No delusion you spout will change that.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  23. Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa by ZeRu · · Score: 2

    And those "before iPad" tablets were obviously superior, having functionality put before design.

    --
    If you post as an AC, don't expect me to spend a mod point on you.
  24. Apple is a Patent Troll now by ControlsGeek · · Score: 2

    The whole of American Industry is reliant on international manufacturers like Foxconn and millions of good American jobs have been outsourced to places like India, China, Brazil , Korea, Southeast Asia, Russia and the former East European countries. The manufacturing machinery that I built for my former employer has been ripped out and shipped to Poland because of cheaper labor. American companies have no choice but to try to protect its intellectual property or see its standard of living fall to an equilibrium. It may already be too late. If you work in the Software industry their is no reason why your job should be done in a high wage country like U.S.A. or Canada. Their are many hard working programmers and developers in India who work for lower wages. Banking, Law research, Accounting, can all be outsourced. Something to think about on this Labor Day holiday. Strong intellectual property laws are one way to retain the incentive to invest in new ideas going forward. And rethink your attitudes to companies like Rambus who outsource fabs but try to retain rights to their Intellectual property.

  25. Re:Doesn't make sense by Wovel · · Score: 2

    Because Apple registered the design in Europe in the mid-90s.... Nice try though. Why don't you try and look up things relevant to this case instead of irrelevant distractions.

  26. Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa by ninetyninebottles · · Score: 2

    That's disingenuous. Also before the iPad were things like the Nokia N700 (Maemo) and the SmartQ series (Ubuntu/Wince/Android). The SmartQ devices, in particular, look a lot like the Samsung design, yet predate the iPad by years.

    I think you should read the actual filing. Apple isn't filing suit based upon the fact that the devices look very similar, but upon that fact coupled with the fact that the user interface is also very similar (and in fact violated both trademarks on the art and software patents on the interface), the packaging in very similar, and the hardware uses patented Apple designs. It's all these things in combination that Apple is claiming is misleading users (well and the regular patent claims). It's one thing to have a device that looks sort of like an iPhone or iPad. It's another to do that and design an interface with the same elements right down to cloning a dozen of the icons.

  27. Re:Ridiculous by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2, Informative

    roman:

    Give it a break already. If batshit insane libertarianism was at all a possibility for any human society larger than a bunch of proto monkeys on the Serengeti, somebody would have tried it.

    It's OK to have meaningful relationships with other humans. It really is. Try it sometime.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  28. Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa by CheerfulMacFanboy · · Score: 2

    Yes, you can obviously make a tablet without fear getting sued by Apple - but Samsung decided they'd rather copy the design.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JooJoo

    Is this what you had in mind, when you talk about 'copying design'?

    And, obviously, I am not talking about Samsung copying the design...

    First of all: until June 2009 the JooJoo/CrunchPad looked notably different: http://techcrunch.com/2009/04/09/crunchtablet-hits-the-net-a-little-early/, even ignoring the color, the non-flat front is quite obvious. Further, as http://peanutbuttereggdirt.com/e/custom/Apple-vs-Samsung-1-Hardware-Design.html shows, there are still a number of differences to Apple's claims: not only is the silver bezel missing that both the iPad and the Galaxy Tab have, the JooJoo's screen is also not centered - and its hard to tell what its icons look like. But let's get to the most important point.

    The suit in Germany is based on the European Community-Design 000181607-0001 - filed in May 2004

    Any "prior art" prior to 2004 please.

    --
    Fandroids hate facts.
  29. Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The suit in Germany is based on the European Community-Design 000181607-0001 - filed in May 2004

    Any "prior art" prior to 2004 please.

    An oft-overlooked - but crucial - point of CD filings: you must have your design registered AND start using it for it to be considered 'active'. Just like registered trademarks in the US - they are not considered live and enforceable until you start using them in commerce.

    Was Apple using that design back in 2004? No? When did they start using that design in commerce? Until that date - the design was registered but not enforceable. And like trademarks, others who use your registered design before you start using it are indemnified from infringement issues (it's why you often have small local mom-and-pop stores using "registered names/trademarks" without problem - they were using them before the larger entity registered and/or used the mark).

    Samsung was using that design back in 2006, well before the iPhone existed or the iPad was even announced.

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  30. Re:epic backfire by infinite+jester · · Score: 2

    Um, your link itself explains that Apple sued Samsung first...

    Um, my link itself explains that Apple sued Samsung first in the United States, but that Samsung sued Apple first in Japan and Germany. This article is about the lawsuit that Samsung brought against Apple in Germany.

    --
    i thought, therefore i was...
  31. Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2

    And that's one reason why Apple didn't sue the JooJoo. So what's Samsung's excuse - that they actually copied the JooJoo, not the iPad? After the CD was enforcable?

    No, the CD is no longer enforceable against Samsung - because they started using that design before it was enforceable.

    Here's an example. You are a nationwide restaurant called Fanboy Foods. You have a new slogan "Cheap Good Eats". You register that trademark - and it's accepted and granted.

    A year later, my little store, Rooster's Grub, starts using the same slogan - "Cheap Good Eats".

    A year after that you, Fanboy Foods, starts using your registered slogan. Guess what - I can still use the slogan since I was using it in trade before you were - I still have precedent to use it - even though you registered it before my first use. You didn't use the slogan in commerce, and thus you have no priority against my use.

    You can stop and legally prohibit anyone else in the entire US (or in the case of the Apple/Samsung spat, the EU) from using that slogan - and even collect damages against them. But since I was using it before you were using it, you cannot restrict my use now or in the future.

    Same thing with community designs - you can only enforce against people who begin using it AFTER you registered AND used the design in commerce. Doing one or the other does not preclude others from using that same design - you need to do both to have the legal right to prohibit use. Which is why Samsung actually has priority in use of the design - not in registration, but in use. So they're fine from a design standpoint.

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  32. Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa by execthis · · Score: 2

    I want to thank all you guys here on this forum for posting so much relevant and highly interesting information about evolving product designs in the world of consumer electronic products.

    By the way, someone gave me an iPad2 not long ago, but after having it for a while and reading about having to jailbreak it just to install apps I want (like VLC), the way Apple controls their products made me sick and I returned it for a Galaxy Tab 10.1.

    Honestly, I don't see how so many people avidly follow Apple when the company is so clearly the worst offender in terms of restricting use and cornering its users to force them into its own markets. The only explanation I can come up with is that most people are just technologically very inept and terrified of not being spoonfed.