Samsung won a court case (yet lost some face) today in the UK courts, as a judge has ruled that its
Galaxy Tab series of tablets does not infringe Apple's tablet design patents.
While the decision has obviously pleased Samsung - which is currently fighting similar claims across the world's various courts - this pleasure will no doubt be tempered somewhat by the judge's reasoning for why customers won't confuse the iPad with a
Galaxy Tab.
In the words of Judge Colin Birss, the
Galaxy Tab family "[does] not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."
Put-down by humansIn more exact terms, the difference in size and thickness of the
Galaxy Tab from Apple's touchscreen slate, plus the "unusual details" on the rear of Sammy's tablet, meant that The Big A's patent infringement claims were rejected.
Samsung (unlike every headline writer in the tech industry) chose not to focus on the judge's comments in its prepared press statement on Judge Birss's decision, instead preferring to issue a warning to Apple that its "excessive legal claims" were harming innovation in the industry.
Apple, meanwhile, issued a statement that managed to ignore both the judge's comment AND Samsung's response. The iPad manufacturer stated that it was "no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad" and that it would continue to fight "to protect Apple's intellectual property".
Bloomberg
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Teaweasel | 09:38 - 11 July 2012
MetalSech... Well played. Well played
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aros | 09:33 - 11 July 2012
Samsung have stolen Apple's design to be fair. I say that as an XP owner.
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MetalSech | 20:31 - 9 July 2012
After making his comments, Judge Birss tried once more to solve his highly perplexing fit-the-shape-to-the-hole Fisher Price toy. But it wasn't simple enough.
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