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A Google search seems to reveal that they were targeted by a patent troll in 2018 as well. Seems this company can’t get any slack from life. I would strongly h

A Google search seems to reveal that they were targeted by a patent troll in 2018 as well. Seems this company can’t get any slack from life. I would strongly hesitate to blaming the victim. You can easily make the case that they had poor business ops. But this shouldn’t have happened to them. And all the same, I have a hard time empathizing with the anti-China rhetoric. Zynga’s Pincus has been quoted by multiple sources as saying along the lines of: “copy them until you get their results.” Gaming is pretty brutal in that regard, but no one complained when Samsung or LG copied Apple’s designs. There’s a lot of selective bias and double standards here. Although I could fault China’s tech industry for other things, it’s really hard to stand up for the US in the broader context given the hypocrisy with which we apply our ideals.

inflatableDodo 7y ago
>no one complained when Samsung or LG copied Apple’s designs. Making variations of a rectangular device with a touchscreen was always going to be a genre. And one already long trod in fiction. People also don't worry at there being yet another quake-alike.
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  For a time, Samsung did a lot more than just make a rectangular device with touchscreen. They made eerily similar packing material, including the artwork, nearly identical power brick, etc. Hell, as I recall they even had their own version of the dock connector. It was all too blatant to be anything but deliberate.
  - busymom0 7y ago
    Yep, also don't forget this 132 page document where Samsung emails showed they were copying iOS features on left with their own UI on right comparing them to add those features to their own UI: https://www.theverge.com/2012/8/8/3227289/samsung-apple-ux-ui-interface-improvement https://www.theverge.com/2012/8/8/3227289/samsung-apple-ux-u...
  - glennpratt 7y ago
    I voluntarily owned the original iPhone 3g followed by the original Galaxy S. The similarities were very shallow in practice. It did not have a dock connector, though the tablet did, but so did all sorts of media devices at the time. Anytime this came up in conversation I'd hand people my Galaxy S and no one would call it a ripoff in person.
    - rootusrootus 7y ago
      IIRC it was mostly the tablet that was a copy, not the phones.
      - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
        So they used the same chipset, same battery, etc.. Or was it a "copy" like all media display devices follow a rectangular footprint with a frame?
        rootusrootus 7y ago
        It was a design copy. More than just having a similar footprint, too. Going from memory, it was the same size, screen, bezels, home button, dock connector, charger, and came in a box that looked just like the iPad box, was advertised with pictures that were nearly identical (technically different, but same gender, same colors, same pose, etc). It was actually pretty hilarious at the time because it was so over-the-top mimicking all the way down to details that you'd think nobody would bother with. At one point there was a great web site that just put them side-by-side and showed all the detailed copying. But it's been enough years that that seems to be lost to the dustbin of history, or at least my google fu is not strong enough to easily find it. Samsung doesn't do anything like that now, they've long since found their own identify for all the Galaxy devices.
  - mikeyouse 7y ago
    Famously, the judge in the IP case asked Samsung's attorney to ID which of the two tablets she was holding was the Samsung tablet and which was the Apple iPad and Samsung's attorney couldn't tell the difference between them... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-samsung-lawsuit/apple-must-show-patents-valid-in-samsung-case-judge-idUSTRE79C79C20111014 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-samsung-lawsuit/app...
    - nothrabannosir 7y ago
      To clarify: the judge was holding the devices, the lawyer was 10ft away: > “Not at this distance your honor,” said Sullivan, who stood at a podium roughly ten feet away. (I thought you meant the lawyer couldn't identify a tablet she was holding in her own hands)
      - retiredcoder 7y ago
        Lawyers of HN, can the judge ask questions to a lawyer that can furnish evidence against their own client?
rangerpolitic 7y ago
> no one complained when Samsung or LG copied Apple’s designs Apple and Samsung were locked in a legal battle over this very issue and in several countries. It was massive news at the time (circa 2011-2012) and even went to the US Supreme Court. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._v._Samsung_Electronics_Co https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._v._Samsung_Electron.... And here is a sample of some of the discussion in the tech community. https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/04/18/2053241/apple-sues-samsung-over-galaxy-phones-and-tablets https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/04/18/2053241/apple-sues... There were a lot of people angry at Apple (and some at Samsung). A common refrain at the time was "There are only so many ways you can design a rectangle."
- thaumasiotes 7y ago
  I tend to see "there were a lot of people angry at Apple" and "there are only so many ways you can design a rectangle" as supporting the idea that no one complained when Samsung or LG copied Apple's designs.
  - rangerpolitic 7y ago
    From the linked thread: https://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2089310&cid=35860610 https://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2089310&cid=35860... > I find things about both platforms that are unique and that I prefer to the other. However, when you look at what Samsung did with their UI... It's pretty pathetic to be honest. They literally copied entire app UIs wholesale (even icons).
kkarakk 7y ago
>A Google search seems to reveal that they were targeted by a patent troll in 2018 as well. Seems this company can’t get any slack from life. Sounds like a case of ex-employee leaking their business processes(or lack thereof) to companies that can exploit the issues
SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago
> I have a hard time empathizing with the anti-China rhetoric... no one complained when Samsung or LG copied Apple’s designs. Samsung are Korean, FWIW. Oh and they were successfully sued by Apple.

inflatableDodo 7y ago

>no one complained when Samsung or LG copied Apple’s designs. Making variations of a rectangular device with a touchscreen was always going to be a genre. And one already long trod in fiction. People also don't worry at there being yet another quake-alike.

rootusrootus 7y ago
For a time, Samsung did a lot more than just make a rectangular device with touchscreen. They made eerily similar packing material, including the artwork, nearly identical power brick, etc. Hell, as I recall they even had their own version of the dock connector. It was all too blatant to be anything but deliberate.
- busymom0 7y ago
  Yep, also don't forget this 132 page document where Samsung emails showed they were copying iOS features on left with their own UI on right comparing them to add those features to their own UI: https://www.theverge.com/2012/8/8/3227289/samsung-apple-ux-ui-interface-improvement https://www.theverge.com/2012/8/8/3227289/samsung-apple-ux-u...
- glennpratt 7y ago
  I voluntarily owned the original iPhone 3g followed by the original Galaxy S. The similarities were very shallow in practice. It did not have a dock connector, though the tablet did, but so did all sorts of media devices at the time. Anytime this came up in conversation I'd hand people my Galaxy S and no one would call it a ripoff in person.
  - rootusrootus 7y ago
    IIRC it was mostly the tablet that was a copy, not the phones.
    - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
      So they used the same chipset, same battery, etc.. Or was it a "copy" like all media display devices follow a rectangular footprint with a frame?
      - rootusrootus 7y ago
        It was a design copy. More than just having a similar footprint, too. Going from memory, it was the same size, screen, bezels, home button, dock connector, charger, and came in a box that looked just like the iPad box, was advertised with pictures that were nearly identical (technically different, but same gender, same colors, same pose, etc). It was actually pretty hilarious at the time because it was so over-the-top mimicking all the way down to details that you'd think nobody would bother with. At one point there was a great web site that just put them side-by-side and showed all the detailed copying. But it's been enough years that that seems to be lost to the dustbin of history, or at least my google fu is not strong enough to easily find it. Samsung doesn't do anything like that now, they've long since found their own identify for all the Galaxy devices.
- mikeyouse 7y ago
  Famously, the judge in the IP case asked Samsung's attorney to ID which of the two tablets she was holding was the Samsung tablet and which was the Apple iPad and Samsung's attorney couldn't tell the difference between them... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-samsung-lawsuit/apple-must-show-patents-valid-in-samsung-case-judge-idUSTRE79C79C20111014 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-samsung-lawsuit/app...
  - nothrabannosir 7y ago
    To clarify: the judge was holding the devices, the lawyer was 10ft away: > “Not at this distance your honor,” said Sullivan, who stood at a podium roughly ten feet away. (I thought you meant the lawyer couldn't identify a tablet she was holding in her own hands)
    - retiredcoder 7y ago
      Lawyers of HN, can the judge ask questions to a lawyer that can furnish evidence against their own client?

rangerpolitic 7y ago

> no one complained when Samsung or LG copied Apple’s designs Apple and Samsung were locked in a legal battle over this very issue and in several countries. It was massive news at the time (circa 2011-2012) and even went to the US Supreme Court. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._v._Samsung_Electronics_Co https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._v._Samsung_Electron.... And here is a sample of some of the discussion in the tech community. https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/04/18/2053241/apple-sues-samsung-over-galaxy-phones-and-tablets https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/04/18/2053241/apple-sues... There were a lot of people angry at Apple (and some at Samsung). A common refrain at the time was "There are only so many ways you can design a rectangle."

thaumasiotes 7y ago
I tend to see "there were a lot of people angry at Apple" and "there are only so many ways you can design a rectangle" as supporting the idea that no one complained when Samsung or LG copied Apple's designs.
- rangerpolitic 7y ago
  From the linked thread: https://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2089310&cid=35860610 https://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2089310&cid=35860... > I find things about both platforms that are unique and that I prefer to the other. However, when you look at what Samsung did with their UI... It's pretty pathetic to be honest. They literally copied entire app UIs wholesale (even icons).

kkarakk 7y ago

>A Google search seems to reveal that they were targeted by a patent troll in 2018 as well. Seems this company can’t get any slack from life. Sounds like a case of ex-employee leaking their business processes(or lack thereof) to companies that can exploit the issues

SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago

> I have a hard time empathizing with the anti-China rhetoric... no one complained when Samsung or LG copied Apple’s designs. Samsung are Korean, FWIW. Oh and they were successfully sued by Apple.