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Older iPhones, iPads banned as agency says Apple infringed on Samsung patent
- kunai 13y agoI think both companies need to just chill out and let the best man win instead of clawing at each other immaturely.
- dirkgently 13y agoFunny that everybody is realizing this _now_ - not when Apple was suing others for Rounded Corner (TM)(R)(C).
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- jkubicek 13y agoI don't think this is surprising at all. Apple's allegations against Samsung were largely visual and easy for the layperson to understand. It makes sense that Apple's position would carry more weight in the mainstream media.
- waps 13y agoExcept of course it was rounded corners. Rounded corners.
- deminature 13y agoThat's a pretty big over-simplification of the case - at least for the tablet aspect of the case, the iPad and the subsequently released Samsung competitor were so visually similar that even Samsung's legal defence team were unable to distinguish between then without turning them on [1]. Apple may have overstepped their bounds fairly obviously with some claims, but the case was not entirely without merit. [1] http://gizmodo.com/5849803/even-samsung-cant-tell-the-difference-between-its-tablet-and-ipad http://gizmodo.com/5849803/even-samsung-cant-tell-the-differ...
- CatMtKing 13y agoHis quote was "at this distance." And, without providing the distance specified, the article proceeds to blow the quote out of proportion. Shitty reporting anyone?
- biot 13y agoThe Reuters article (which Gizmodo re-blogspammed) says the distance was 10 feet: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/us-apple-samsung-lawsuit-idUSTRE79C79C20111014 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/us-apple-samsung-l... "Koh frequently remarked on the similarity between each company's tablets. At one point during the hearing, she held one black glass tablet in each hand above her head, and asked Sullivan if she could identify which company produced which. 'Not at this distance your honor,' said Sullivan, who stood at a podium roughly ten feet away."
- rednukleus 13y agoSomething is very fishy about that incident. They aren't even the same aspect ratio. Either Koh held them at a strange angle or Sullivan has a problem with his sight. I don't believe that anybody who is familiar with the devices would not be able to tell them apart at 10 feet. The Samsung even has SAMSUNG written on the front, and Apple have a giant Apple icon on the back.
- Kequc 13y agoThe issue is as you would guess a strategic one. If he had answered the question definitively and been correct it wouldn't have aided his case, as it would have only reaffirmed what already was his case. If however for any reason he got it wrong, he would be fired and probably never work again. People's brains aren't that reliable. I know the difference between the tablets and I wouldn't stake my whole career on which was which if I was put on the spot. It's just not smart.
- jlgreco 13y agoIt's Gizmodo, they probably just popped open a bottle of champagne now that you promoted them to "reporting, albeit shitty".
- clarky07 13y agoright. these phones aren't similar at all. http://cdn.redmondpie.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/iphone-3gs-und-samsung-galaxy-s.png http://cdn.redmondpie.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/iphone-... /sarcasm
- dirkgently 13y agoWell, if this is a free for all troll thread, then let me jump in. The one on the right looks much better.
- clarky07 13y agomuch better than what? some other phone? because the 2 shown are nearly identical. grandma wouldn't know which was which except for the word "samsung" on it (from any distance).
- devcpp 13y agoCome on, all of this is fairly obvious. Let's say you take a Nokia brick and want to put one touch screen instead of a display and an input panel. What do you do? Something that looks exactly like that. The screen gets larger, the buttons go down and everything else stays the same (yeah, pre-iPhone dumb phones had nice icons in a grid too, remember?). I mean, you're not going to put the speakers behind, or put fragile sharp corners, or put the buttons on the middle of the screen, just because Apple did something similar! This is fairly obvious stuff when developing a smart phone out of a dumb phone. Dumb phones looked alike too, just like fridges and microwaves look alike, and that's because these things just make sense.
- sbuk 13y agoThe other android handsets released around the same time didn't mimick the look of the iPhone. Take the HTC Desire for instance, it has the same cues you mention but looks very different.
- 13y ago
- WildUtah 13y agoLooks like Samsung got denied on all the current models and can prohibit the importation of only the iPhone 4 and earlier models. Meanwhile Apple is still trying to get the courts to ban the import of the Samsung's 2011 Galaxy Nexus based on the case last year. Well, at least the plodding and ridiculously slow pace of justice is a good thing for once. If it takes two years to ban a model of smart phone, they'll never manage to ban one that's important in the market.
- Alterlife 13y agoIt probably depends. If the phones are already manufactured and can't be sold, two years after release or not, it would be a big hit... right in the moneys.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- plorkyeran 13y agoHaving to sit on five days' worth of unsellable phones would not be all that painful.
- caf 13y agoNot to mention that they can just be shipped to another market and sold there.
- mitchty 13y agoI thought the 4 is still the "free with contract" phone though?
- clarky07 13y agofor another month or so...
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
- dariusm5 13y agoI find it interesting that the patent being infringed by Apple was a standard essential patent. Given that Motorola has been having so much difficulty going after Microsoft over FRAND patents, I'm surprised Samsung's lawyers were able to pull this off.
- josephlord 13y agoIt seems that the ITC are on a different planet from the Federal Courts, the FTC (antitrust enforcement), a cross party Congressional letter and other countries courts (with the possible exception of the German courts) when it comes to the idea of injuctive relief over standards essential patents and FRAND commitments.
- kondro 13y agoIt's a good thing both of these products are almost end-of-life.
- dirkgently 13y agoYou mean it's good thing for Apple.
- sbuk 13y agoWhy? It seems to me that you aren't actually interested in discussing the merits, or lack there of in this particular case, you're just trying to elicit a negative response.
- dirkgently 13y agoNo - I am all for a good discussion, as long as the involved parties have not decided the winner already.
- sbuk 13y agoSo why then does it appear that you have decided Samsung to be in the right?
- dirkgently 13y agoI haven't. But I have a tendency to support anyone fighting against a bully.
- sbuk 13y agoAs do I.
- jpdoctor 13y agoWell, since the power buttons are now failing on the iPhone 4's, it's not too much of a loss.
- nicholassmith 13y agoJust to add some more flavour to the matter, the European Commission has said they'd impose fines against Samsung if they tried to prevent sale of any device over a SEP patent issue. It seems like the ITC have made a decision, which is their prerogative, that's an odds with how it's treated everywhere else. Apple hasn't got clean hands in the matter, they've been more than happy to saddle up and legal-cowboy their way into forcing decisions, but using a SEP to force an import ban is a pretty bad choice. Apple says Samsung wouldn't play ball in fair and equitable terms, that's a distinct possibility. The ITC seems to think Apple should have take the deal, so we don't know all the details yet, it'll be interesting to see what comes out.