9 ms·

I don't see how anyone can defend Samsung seriously. I'm sure there is minutiae in the case that could be disputed. However, in the light of evidence like the c

I don't see how anyone can defend Samsung seriously. I'm sure there is minutiae in the case that could be disputed. However, in the light of evidence like the comparisons in this imgur album [http://imgur.com/a/by8Xq http://imgur.com/a/by8Xq], saying that Samsung didn't copy the iPhone as well as the rest of Apple's trade dress seems silly.

untog 14y ago
Well thank goodness that imgur albums can't be submitted as evidence in court. I'm curious about a number of those images- when did Samsung ever use the Apple dock connector (or something that looks like it) on their phones? When did they copy and paste an iOS screenshot onto their phone?
- magoon 14y ago
  That's the Galaxy Tab 30-pin dock connector, and you can see it compared to Apple's in the third slide of this iFixit teardown: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+Tab+Teardown/4103/1#s19248 http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+Tab+Teardown/4...
  - untog 14y ago
    Interesting, thanks. This is why the imgur album really isn't very useful- there's no context/citations.
- rimantas 14y ago
  Enjoy: http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab-accessories/ETA-P10JBEGSTA http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab-accessories/ETA-...
  - BCM43 14y ago
    I'm getting a 404.
- BitMastro 14y ago
  It's based on a 30-pin PDMI connector standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDMI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDMI) but modified by Samsung to be used on the Galaxy Tab
viraptor 14y ago
Considering the pictures start with 1) app icons 2) app menu which well... just makes sense the way it's done - wall of icons design was around forever (win ce phones at least) 3) comparing google maps to google maps - it's not a great way to prove anything. (the other pictures of external design are pretty similar though, no disagreement there)
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- rimantas 14y ago
  > wall of icons design was around forever The problem is not the wall of icons. The problem are two icons which are for Apple App Store and for Apple Safari on that wall.
  - randomchars 14y ago
    Well and imgur album is hardly a credible source. Is there any context for that? Edit: there is. That was not a Samsung store but a Euronics one in Italy. Samsung had nothing to do with decorating the store. http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/09/23/samsung_shop_features_apples_app_store_safari_icons_on_decorative_app_wall.html http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/09/23/samsung_shop_featu...
- mrknmc 14y ago
  The point of the 1. picture is that there are iOS App Store and Safari icons which you obviously won't find on Samsung device.
  - randomchars 14y ago
    That was not a Samsung store but a Euronics one in Italy. Samsung had nothing to do with decorating the store. http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/09/23/samsung_shop_features_apples_app_store_safari_icons_on_decorative_app_wall.html http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/09/23/samsung_shop_featu...
- 14y ago
mistercow 14y ago
Certainly they copied some things, just as all companies copy good features from their competitors (this is a good thing; it's called progress). But trade dress protection is not intended to prevent intellectual dishonesty or protect intellectual property or any other notion of fairness between companies. It is there for a specific practical purpose: to protect consumers from confusion. But Apple's branding is so effective and distinctive that confusing consumers about what is or isn't an Apple product would be quite difficult without straight up violating their trademarks. Look again at the gallery you linked to, and instead of asking "Did Samsung copy Apple?", ask yourself "Could a shopper looking for a smartphone in a store honestly confuse these two products?" Also, the iPod connector? Nothing to do with the Galaxy S. That's probably just a Samsung iPod connector, for you know, iPods and iPhones. The Galaxy S uses micro-USB.
- culturestate 14y ago
  > Also, the iPod connector...probably just a Samsung iPod connector, for you know, iPods and iPhones. That is the stock galaxy tab cable. http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab-accessories/ECC1DP0UBEGSTA?from_mobile=true http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab-accessories/ECC1...
  - mistercow 14y ago
    Interesting. And I see that it is in fact not interchangeable with the iPod connector. Still, it's pretty hard to imagine someone mistaking a Galaxy Tab for an iPad because of the USB connector.
    - headShrinker 14y ago
      It all adds up. Any one thing is not going to cause 'someone mistaking a galaxy tab for an ipad', But when you put everything together, not even the lawyer for Samsung could distinguish the two.
- jakobe 14y ago
  Only very few of the people who buy smartphones know as much about the technical differences between iOS and Android as we do. Many people just want an iPhone, walk into a store, and end up buying some Android phone because they are told it's the same thing but cheaper. That's what trade dress protection should prevent.
greenwalls 14y ago
I guess the argument in the article is that someone at Samsung said to make something like the iPhone and did not specifically say to copy it. But to me if someone told me to "make something like X" I would probably copy it closely. This argument in the article makes no sense to me. I agree with you that the photos you linked to show exact copies of software and hardware.
cooldeal 14y ago
Is the maps pic real or faked? I doubt the Android one looks anything close to the iPhone one, let alone a pixel perfect clone that looks copy pasted. http://i.imgur.com/npHlR.gif http://i.imgur.com/npHlR.gif
- fhars 14y ago
  They are both displaying google maps, so it is not that surprising that both look similar. But is is a severe blow against the assumption of honesty of the person who created the images.
- pkulak 14y ago
  Yeah, that one's faked. http://imgur.com/xuRTN http://imgur.com/xuRTN
- randomchars 14y ago
  Isn't that the Maps website? The Native app doesn't (and didn't, ever) look like that.

untog 14y ago

Well thank goodness that imgur albums can't be submitted as evidence in court. I'm curious about a number of those images- when did Samsung ever use the Apple dock connector (or something that looks like it) on their phones? When did they copy and paste an iOS screenshot onto their phone?

magoon 14y ago
That's the Galaxy Tab 30-pin dock connector, and you can see it compared to Apple's in the third slide of this iFixit teardown: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+Tab+Teardown/4103/1#s19248 http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+Tab+Teardown/4...
- untog 14y ago
  Interesting, thanks. This is why the imgur album really isn't very useful- there's no context/citations.
rimantas 14y ago
Enjoy: http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab-accessories/ETA-P10JBEGSTA http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab-accessories/ETA-...
- BCM43 14y ago
  I'm getting a 404.
BitMastro 14y ago
It's based on a 30-pin PDMI connector standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDMI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDMI) but modified by Samsung to be used on the Galaxy Tab

viraptor 14y ago

Considering the pictures start with 1) app icons 2) app menu which well... just makes sense the way it's done - wall of icons design was around forever (win ce phones at least) 3) comparing google maps to google maps - it's not a great way to prove anything. (the other pictures of external design are pretty similar though, no disagreement there)

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
rimantas 14y ago
> wall of icons design was around forever The problem is not the wall of icons. The problem are two icons which are for Apple App Store and for Apple Safari on that wall.
- randomchars 14y ago
  Well and imgur album is hardly a credible source. Is there any context for that? Edit: there is. That was not a Samsung store but a Euronics one in Italy. Samsung had nothing to do with decorating the store. http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/09/23/samsung_shop_features_apples_app_store_safari_icons_on_decorative_app_wall.html http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/09/23/samsung_shop_featu...
mrknmc 14y ago
The point of the 1. picture is that there are iOS App Store and Safari icons which you obviously won't find on Samsung device.
- randomchars 14y ago
  That was not a Samsung store but a Euronics one in Italy. Samsung had nothing to do with decorating the store. http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/09/23/samsung_shop_features_apples_app_store_safari_icons_on_decorative_app_wall.html http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/09/23/samsung_shop_featu...
14y ago

mistercow 14y ago

Certainly they copied some things, just as all companies copy good features from their competitors (this is a good thing; it's called progress). But trade dress protection is not intended to prevent intellectual dishonesty or protect intellectual property or any other notion of fairness between companies. It is there for a specific practical purpose: to protect consumers from confusion. But Apple's branding is so effective and distinctive that confusing consumers about what is or isn't an Apple product would be quite difficult without straight up violating their trademarks. Look again at the gallery you linked to, and instead of asking "Did Samsung copy Apple?", ask yourself "Could a shopper looking for a smartphone in a store honestly confuse these two products?" Also, the iPod connector? Nothing to do with the Galaxy S. That's probably just a Samsung iPod connector, for you know, iPods and iPhones. The Galaxy S uses micro-USB.

culturestate 14y ago
> Also, the iPod connector...probably just a Samsung iPod connector, for you know, iPods and iPhones. That is the stock galaxy tab cable. http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab-accessories/ECC1DP0UBEGSTA?from_mobile=true http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab-accessories/ECC1...
- mistercow 14y ago
  Interesting. And I see that it is in fact not interchangeable with the iPod connector. Still, it's pretty hard to imagine someone mistaking a Galaxy Tab for an iPad because of the USB connector.
  - headShrinker 14y ago
    It all adds up. Any one thing is not going to cause 'someone mistaking a galaxy tab for an ipad', But when you put everything together, not even the lawyer for Samsung could distinguish the two.
jakobe 14y ago
Only very few of the people who buy smartphones know as much about the technical differences between iOS and Android as we do. Many people just want an iPhone, walk into a store, and end up buying some Android phone because they are told it's the same thing but cheaper. That's what trade dress protection should prevent.

greenwalls 14y ago

I guess the argument in the article is that someone at Samsung said to make something like the iPhone and did not specifically say to copy it. But to me if someone told me to "make something like X" I would probably copy it closely. This argument in the article makes no sense to me. I agree with you that the photos you linked to show exact copies of software and hardware.

cooldeal 14y ago

Is the maps pic real or faked? I doubt the Android one looks anything close to the iPhone one, let alone a pixel perfect clone that looks copy pasted. http://i.imgur.com/npHlR.gif http://i.imgur.com/npHlR.gif

fhars 14y ago
They are both displaying google maps, so it is not that surprising that both look similar. But is is a severe blow against the assumption of honesty of the person who created the images.
pkulak 14y ago
Yeah, that one's faked. http://imgur.com/xuRTN http://imgur.com/xuRTN
randomchars 14y ago
Isn't that the Maps website? The Native app doesn't (and didn't, ever) look like that.