Samsung has countersued Apple for the infringement of 5 patents, this in response to Apple's suit against Samsung for patent and trademark violations filed earlier this week.
"Samsung is responding actively to the legal action taken against us in order to protect our intellectual property and to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communications business,"
Apple's lawsuit seemed focused on preventing Samsung from copying the look and feel of iPhone and iPad in the Galaxy S line of tablets and TouchWiz skins. Samsung's seems focused on trying to match the patent portion. It will be interesting to see how they respond to the trademarks.
Anyone else thinking that if they continued to innovate, they wouldn't be facing the trademark charges?
[Reuters]
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Samsung countersues Apple for patent infringement
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By Apple's logic, Motorola should be the only company in the world selling mobile phones and Levi's the only company selling blue jeans. What's the only real outcome of all this going to be? More very rich patent lawyers.
Samsung's patents have a little more substance to them than Apple's "Look and feel" claims. But again, Rene leads the charge to rub Job's butt hurt.
Correct me if I'm somehow wrong here, but hasn't Samsung's innovations been the key to making the iPhone better? Especially since most if not all of the advanced components in the iPhone were developed and are manufactured by Samsung?
Apple uses a CPU that is modified from Samsung's Hummingbird design buts that's about it and I think the A5 is quite different.
What Apple is arguing is that the Samsung above looks like an iPhone 3GS and Samsung used this to boost their sales. It's not about reeling off a list of features like a large capacitive touchscreen and grid of icons. Many other smartphones have these features but look distinct from the iPhone. To an average consumer that does not closely follow gadget news (I.e. The majority of consumers) the Samsung phone looks like an iPhone.
I thought Apple also got the majority of their Flash memory and their "retina" display from Samsung?
Even for an average customer that doesn't follow gadget news I can't see them mistaking the two from the image I see up there. I know there are a lot of dumb people out there but I don't think their are that that many people that are THAT dumb out there looking for a smartphone....
I believe retina display is from LG. A player largely relegated to the side-lines here, but Ted has a point re LG and their Prada phone. To go back further, Apple's simply copying the now defunct PDA phones.
you the phone and see how it runs then tell me if the phone is the exactly like the iphone.
Rene, I take issue with your summation. If Samsung started to innovate they'd find that they would not be facing a lawsuit. Their group as a whole could not innovate their way out of a paper bag. Yes, then can make things smaller and faster but what they lack is the ability to build integrated products that are differentiated from other products in the market.
As Rene said in the article, Apple didn't use patents in the original suit. Now Samsung has fired back with a few of theirs (in the process ignoring the claims Apple made - does that suggest to you that they know they don't have a case?), which has the sole purpose of trying to get Apple to drop the initial suit. Apple won't do that, so will likely counter the counter-suit with some of their own patents.
Here's the magic of it all.. The suits are being filed in Germany, Japan, and South Korea, NOT the United States. I can tell you that this is brilliant on Samsung's part. Apple has ZERO chance of winning a patent case in South Korea, and doubtless they will have trouble coming out on top in the other countries.
Either way, maybe this has something to do with breaking the yearly release cycle? I'm sure Apple's had all this nonsense planned out for at least 6-8 months.
Yea, Samsung no doubt made their device to look just like the iPhone. I know that Apple's design is great, but come on Samsung.
Apple, sit back man. We now you guys set the bar. Let them drink of your cool-aid. If they wanna copy Apple, we know who there imitating. Shame on them, just sayin'. They just want to be cool. Microsoft FTL!
Soto you are the one who drinks the cool aid. The LG prada was truly first to the design used in the iphone. They were first. Of course most isheep just live in apple world so reality does not seem to show up. Go on you tube and look up lg prada watch the videos. They were out months before the iphone, but of course as an isheep already you will go drink the cool aid.
pwn!!
The only reason LG says this about the iPhone is because of how successful iPhone was. Look at all the other bar style touch phones have come out. Also the pradas OS does not compare to iOS at all and is smaller and thicker than the first iPod touch that came out in Sept. 2007 so I do not see how thy compare out side of the bar style form factor.
its Kool-Aid not cool anything.
Just look at these court cases like an investment for companies that sit on mountains of cash. They put in a couple of (dozen) million like they would do when buying a small company that has developed a promising technology. Might work, might not, let's try.
Go Samsung! I like the fact they are going straight after apple. I can only hope the next iphone was using samsung chips could spell a real delay.
I'm sure nobody needs this because everyone here knows patent law inside and out. But for those that don't:
Feel free to read this
Title 35 of the US Code: Patentshttp://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/appxl.htm
a simple open and shut case. Apple/Samsung are clearly right. Just by looking at it. lol.
Who has time to read that
Seeing as the basis for the Ax chips stem from their initial design...they use their parts to make the iDevices "magical"...I'd say Samsung has been innovating.
I believe TouchWiz is a blatant rip off. That much Apple gets. But your comment goes to Apple too. If they'd stay out of the courtroom, maybe they'd have to innovate and not have to resort to slowing folks down through litigation.
I'd like to see one original idea on the iPhone that Apple themselves created.
actually touchwiz is an update from an old OS that samsung had on their phones PRIOR to iOS even being out. Who's copying who?
It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. Seeing that Samsung produces a large portion of the parts Apple uses in its gadgets, Apple might actually get burnt on this
If you don't think apple has a case then you also probably don't have good eyesight or posses little to no common sense...
I would go with no common sense. the 5 wheel comment alone is enough to convince me. I wonder if chimps could sue him for copying their common sense.
So if one manufacturer produces a car with four round wheels, then all the other manufacturers are not allowed to produce with four round wheels? Do they have to use square wheels? Five wheels? Three? At some point user interface "patents" become just as much of a constraint to innovation as trying to "patent" four wheels on a car would be... Come on Apple and Samsung, just keep making better projects instead of throwing sand at each other in the sand box.
Indeed.
But just think how much more interesting this could get now that Microsoft has just been granted a patent for in-app purchases....
The tech industry is turning into a soap opera!
Well, Samsung has built some devices that resemble the iPhone. No doubt about it.
Honestly, it doesn't take a legal team to notice that the Samsung phone is strikingly similar to the iPhone. Samsung would stay out of the courtroom and have more time to come up with new ideas if they came up with their own to begin with!
That's just it, Samsung can't innovate when it comes to phones so they copy/steal ideas. Rap music did the same thing until they were made to stop sampling/stealing other people's music.
Took Apple this long to sue? Geee. It takes my wife this long to get dressed and put on make up in the morning.
No.
FIRST, 413 STAND UPPP!!!
You're gay
Win.