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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."

22 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 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!)

      --
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    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. 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."
  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 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.

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      which is totally what she said
  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. 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. 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.

  10. 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
  11. 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?

  12. 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

  13. 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.

  14. 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.

  15. 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
  16. 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.

    --
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