apple-samsung

Samsung, Apple head for courtroom confrontation

Monday marks the start of the U.S. trial between Apple and Samsung, two companies that have spent the past 17 months attempting to disembowel one another with legal filings -- all while quietly doing business together that helps keep them afloat.

The dustup between the two is of intense interest, not only in Silicon Valley, but to the electronics world at large.

At stake for Apple is a possibility to convince a jury -- and perhaps the world -- that one of its biggest rivals could only have gotten where it is by copying Apple technology. Beyond that, the … Read more

Apple brief: Samsung was warned of similarities to iPad, iPhone

Samsung was repeatedly warned that its smartphones and tablets were too similar to Apple's counterparts and even discussed that issue internally, the iPhone maker claims in an unredacted court filing.

The brief, which was revealed by All Things D, emerges as the companies move closer to their high-stakes patent trial in the U.S., which is due to begin on Monday.

"Samsung's documents show the similarity of Samsung's products is no accident or, as Samsung would have it, a 'natural evolution,'" Apple argued in its brief. "Rather, it results from Samsung's deliberate plan … Read more

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 banned in EU in fresh Apple patent twist

A German court has ruled that an existing ban on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 that prevented the device from being sold in the country should be extended across the entire European Union -- although the larger Galaxy Tab 10.1N can remain on sale.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 7.7, the smaller version of the popular tablet, had been banned in Germany in September 2011. The Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court ruled today that the ban should be extended to all 27 European member states, on the grounds that the device infringes Apple-owned patents that date back to 2004. … Read more

Could these be Apple's ads apologizing to Samsung?

Judge Colin Birss seems to have character. First, he declared that Samsung couldn't possibly have copied the iPad because Samsung's products are simply "not as cool."

This week, though, he ordered Apple to run ads on its UK Web site and in advertisements in British newspapers saying that Samsung wasn't a copycat.

There seems to be no firm direction, though, as to the actual copy of these ads. So I thought I'd give Apple a little help.

These are a little unpolished, but I hope they serve to offer the company some positive direction. … Read more

Sales ban on Samsung's tablet remains in U.S. until trial

Samsung's latest effort to get the U.S. sales ban of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 lifted was derailed today.

In a court order (PDF), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Samsung's request to suspend a preliminary injunction on its tablet that rival Apple won against it last month.

As intellectual property tracking blog FOSS Patents points out, this decision was coupled with another rejection (PDF) of Samsung's request to expedite an appeal on the matter.

"We will continue to pursue a request for an appeal of the Galaxy Tab 10.… Read more

Cool in the eye of the (judicial) beholder: Apple v. Samsung

Earlier this week, a judge in the United Kingdom ruled that Samsung's Galaxy Tab tablet computers do not infringe on Apple's design -- in the process, offering an aesthetic judgement that quickly reverberated across several time zones.

"Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back," Judge Colin Birss wrote in his decision. "They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool. The overall impression produced is different."

The judge's turn of … Read more

Wait, did a judge just say Samsung is 'not as cool' as Apple?

I have a feeling the world's courts are getting a little fed up with Apple/Samsung lawsuits.

Or even just tech lawsuits in general.

However, today's verdict in Apple's attempt to prove that the Samsung Galaxy Tab is an iPad with a longer brand name takes judicial irritation into uncharted and rather lovely waters.

In finding that Samsung had not at all, in any way, well, not quite copied Apple's signature tablet, Judge Colin Birss used very contemporary, non-technical language to make his point.

I am grateful to Computerworld for helping me identify that the judge … Read more

Did iPhone 'explode' in 17-year-old's pocket?

Video footage of an iPhone allegedly exploding in a young man's pocket has been posted online.

17-year-old Henri Helminen is seen pulling out the violently smoking device from his pocket and throwing it on the floor, in security tape footage acquired by Finnish news site Kauppalehti.

"The phone was working perfectly" beforehand, Helminen told Kauppalehti. The unidentified iPhone model bought no more than three months ago was destroyed in the fiery incident, he added.

Apple did not respond to request for comment on Wednesday.

Authenticating the video is nigh on impossible. However, it's not the first … Read more

Judge OKs Apple injunction on Samsung's Nexus phone

More bad news for Samsung in its legal battle with Apple: A U.S. district judge has just granted Apple a preliminary injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Nexus phone.

That's the same device Google handed out to developers just a couple of days ago at its I/O conference. Apple had requested an injunction against the smartphone in February, alleging that it infringed on several of its patents. An injunction would keep the Samsung device from being sold in stores in the U.S.

According to Reuters' Dan Levine, the injunction can go into effect as soon as Apple … Read more