apple v. samsung

Did Samsung steal Apple's icons?

Monday's top tech headlines are landing safely on your Earthly screens:

The Apple v. Samsung courtroom drama continues this week. The rundown: Apple says Samsung copied the iPhone and iPad. Samsung says it's just being competitive, and has also counter sued for patent infringement. Monday, Apple made the argument that Samsung's icons look the same as Apple's icons. What do you think?

The first week of Apple testimony revealed interesting tidbits, such as how executives liked the idea of a 7-inch iPad. We also learned that the iPhone was first called Project Purple and that it … Read more

Apple design expert calls Samsung a copycat

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Apple is once again turning to designers to help make its case that Samsung lifted its smartphone and tablet designs, this time going to a company outsider to prove its point.

In testimony today, Peter Bressler -- a former president of the Industrial Designers Society and the founder and board chair of product design firm Bresslergroup -- said numerous Samsung designs infringed on Apple's patented designs.

"My opinion (is) that there are a number of Samsung phones and two Samsung tablets that are substantially the same as the design in those (Apple) patents," … Read more

Samsung attacks Apple's claim of marketplace confusion

Expect Samsung lawyers to hammer away at Apple's claims today that the Galaxy and other devices were so similar to the iPhone and iPad that they confused consumers.

In documents filed with the court, Samsung said that even Apple's own experts are acknowledging that confusion between Samsung and Apple's devices, if it exists, doesn't automatically mean Apple's sales are in any way harmed.

Apple has accused Samsung of violating the patents behind the iPhone and iPad in a lawsuit filed last year. Samsung responded by suing Apple for patent infringement. If Apple wins, the company … Read more

Samsung: Our smartphones are 'distinctly different'

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A Samsung executive testified that the company has as many as 100 different smartphones available in the U.S. market at any given time, many of which look "distinctly different" at the request of U.S. carriers.

The testimony aimed to rebut Apple's contention in its patent case here that Samsung has "slavishly" copied Apple's own iPhones and iPads.

"The carriers want to differentiate their portfolios, as well as their services," said Samsung chief strategy officer Justin Denison. "They typically ask us for some element of uniqueness … Read more

Mother of 'Happy Mac' graphic to testify in Apple v. Samsung

Apple lawyers are reaching back into the company's history for help against Samsung.

The companies are engaged in a patent dispute that could be worth billions of dollars to the winner. Apple today released the names of the next seven people it intends to call to the stand starting tomorrow (the names are listed below).

Most of the marquee names; Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing and Scott Forstall, the company's senior vice president of IOS software, have already testified. Still left up, however, is Susan Kare, the artist and graphic designer who created … Read more

Here's Apple's e-mail thread about a 7-inch iPad

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- One of the highlights of Apple and Samsung's day in court today was the release of an internal e-mail in which top Apple executives discussed interest in a smaller version of the iPad.

This made up just a very small part of a cross-examination of Scott Forstall, Apple's head of iOS software at Apple, but it was enough to get the attention of just about everyone here.

At the heart of it is proof that some of the top executives at Apple were pursuing an alternate, smaller tablet -- something controversial given late Apple … Read more

Apple pulls out time machine to disprove Samsung tablet claims

The legal contest now under way between Apple and Samsung in a San Jose, Calif., court is being fought inside and - - increasingly -- outside the courtroom.

The latest data dump now open to public perusal comes from Apple, which has submitted into evidence a new batch of before-and-after images taken of Samsung's tablet computers, a photo montage clearly designed to highlight major tweaks to the Samsung products that took place after Apple's iPad and iPad2 launches.

Apple claims Samsung stole the design and certain features of its iPad and iPhone, and wants $2.5 billion in … Read more

Apple grills Samsung chief strategist on 'beat Apple' plans

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Apple's main offense against Samsung so far has been to call it a copycat, and today the company tried to drive that point home with a barrage of internal documents.

Apple called on Samsung's chief strategy officer Justin Denison to speak on behalf of the company's three business arms: Samsung Electronics Corp., Samsung Electronics America, and Samsung Telecommunications America. Apple angled Denison as someone with a broad view of the company's ongoing product development plans.

After some formalities, Apple's attorney Bill Lee immediately went after Denison, asking whether Samsung had tried … Read more

Apple exec liked 7-inch iPad, Steve Jobs reported open to the idea

While Steve Jobs may have famously said a 7-inch iPad was too small, others in his camp were more open to the idea.

The trial between Apple and Samsung has yielded a number of juicy bits, the latest being that Eddy Cue, head of Internet software and services, was interested in the idea of smaller iPad. Cue thought the idea of a 7-inch tablet could work, he wrote in an email sent to Steve Jobs.

The email dated January 24, 2011 with Cue's thoughts was disclosed during Samsung's cross examination of Scott Forstall, head of iOS software at … Read more