3 ms·
Do you believe that design patents in general should never hold?
by rbarooah 15y ago
Do you believe that design patents in general should never hold?
- dpark 15y agoI think in general design patents are somewhat redundant with copyright and trademark law. They might be reasonable in some cases, but not this one. I don't think that a design patent (or copyright or trademark) covering essential functionality is acceptable. Have you ever looked at the actual design patent that Apple filed? http://www.google.com/patents?id=6BsWAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract#v=onepage&q&f=false http://www.google.com/patents?id=6BsWAAAAEBAJ&printsec=a... It looks about as much like an iPad as it does the Knight Ridder concept, or the tablet from 2001: A Space Odyssey, because Apple's patent is generic. The patent covers the very concept of a tablet (for which there is plenty of prior art), and none of the "trade dress" you mentioned except the edge-to-edge glass, which was not an idea unique to Apple. The patent that Apple has been citing in support of its claims does not even cover the features they claim to have patented, and I frankly don't understand why the courts haven't recognized that and told them that they have, at best, a copyright claim and not a patent claim.
- rbarooah 15y agoIf that is indeed all they are trying to apply, then I agree with you. I was under the impression that they were also going after details of the trade dress which I think it is obvious that Samsung is copying in various products.
- dpark 15y agoIt's my understanding that the patent is what Apple's been arguing. I've been getting most of my info about these suits via various news outlets, though, so I might be misinformed.