Judge Rules Samsung Tab "Not as Cool" as iPad

Karloff

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Judge Rules Samsung Tab "Not as Cool" as iPad



A UK High Court Judge decides in Samsung's favor, as the Apple-Samsung Patent War rumbles on.

In the ongoing holy war between Apple and Samsung over copyright and design of their respective Tablets, Samsung has won a victory in the UK High Court. Judge Birss ruled that Apple has no basis for its claim that Samsung's Galaxy is too similar in design to its iPad, and therefore there is no reason to ban sales of the Galaxy in the UK. It's something of a Pyrrhic victory for Samsung, as Judge Birss said in his ruling that there could be no confusion between the iPad and the Galaxy because the Galaxy wasn't as cool as Apple's iPad.

Not the sort of endorsement Samsung is likely to use in its ad campaigns, but at least it got the job done. "Samsung welcomes today's judgment," the company said in an official statement, "As the ruling proves, the origin of Apple's registered design features can be found in numerous examples of prior art." Samsung described Apple's legal campaign as "excessive" and said that the consumer's interests would be harmed if Apple's claims were allowed to prevail.

Judge Birss' judgment was simple but damning. "[The Galaxy family of Tablets] do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design," he said, adding "they are not as cool." Apple, naturally, disagrees, and a company spokesman reiterated that "it's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging." Apple has 21 days to appeal the ruling.

In the US, Apple's fight is still ongoing, though a decision made last Friday overturned a previous injunction against sales of Galaxy Nexus Smartphone [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118237-Court-Upholds-Ban-on-Samsung-Galaxy-Tablet]. Apple still controls a majority of the Smartphone and Tablet market, but that hasn't stopped it from trying to smother the competition with lawsuits.

Source: Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jul/09/samsung-apple-cool-ipad-tablet]


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CrazyBlaze

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Jul 12, 2011
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Yes because there is such a difference between how a pad can look. I know the hardware inside can be similar but thats about it. What is samsung supposed to do? Make their tablets round or a triangle. Rectangles have been the norm for screens for so long. How long before Apple starts going after flat screen TVs because they are rectangles.
 

Woodsey

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Aug 9, 2009
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Indeed, it is very confusing. Perhaps they should both just emblazon their logos on their products so that there's no confu-

Oh, right.
 

J. Mazarin

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Jun 25, 2012
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Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck you, Apple.

You wanna prove you're still top dog without Jobs? This isn't the way to do it.
 

PixelMetal

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Both look and work almost exactly the same as a Windows CE phone I had almost 10 years ago, so I'm not really sure the idea of a screen you can touch that has icons on it should really be patent-able to begin with. It comes down to using litigation to stifle competition, like most other patent lawsuits since the mid-90's.
 

DTWolfwood

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Oct 20, 2009
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Till i can get flash on an iOS product, Android products will always be better and cooler than any Apple Product.

Seeing how judges are never considered "cool" its basically an endorsement for Samsung. Much like if my grandma endorses an iProduct, tis be the kiss of death when it comes to "cool."
 

PixelMetal

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DTWolfwood said:
Till i can get flash on an iOS product, Android products will always be better and cooler than any Apple Product.

Seeing how judges are never considered "cool" its basically an endorsement for Samsung. Much like if my grandma endorses an iProduct, tis be the kiss of death when it comes to "cool."
On vacation recently I saw a number of grandmas playing with their iPads to video chat with their grandkids. If there's a better way to convince more technologically-oriented people to stick to Android, I can't think of it.
 

Shinsei-J

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Apr 28, 2011
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DigitalSoapbox said:
DTWolfwood said:
Till i can get flash on an iOS product, Android products will always be better and cooler than any Apple Product.

Seeing how judges are never considered "cool" its basically an endorsement for Samsung. Much like if my grandma endorses an iProduct, tis be the kiss of death when it comes to "cool."
On vacation recently I saw a number of grandmas playing with their iPads to video chat with their grandkids. If there's a better way to convince more technologically-oriented people to stick to Android, I can't think of it.
I feel silly reading and agreeing to this on my Ipad.
I still like it though.
 

Scow2

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DigitalSoapbox said:
DTWolfwood said:
Till i can get flash on an iOS product, Android products will always be better and cooler than any Apple Product.

Seeing how judges are never considered "cool" its basically an endorsement for Samsung. Much like if my grandma endorses an iProduct, tis be the kiss of death when it comes to "cool."
On vacation recently I saw a number of grandmas playing with their iPads to video chat with their grandkids. If there's a better way to convince more technologically-oriented people to stick to Android, I can't think of it.
Since when did user-friendliness and ease of use become things to be ashamed of? Personally, I don't have any tablets yet, though. I do hope to get an android, due to the lower cost and greater flexibility.
 

Waaghpowa

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Apr 13, 2010
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Aside from the idiotic judgement of "coolness", at least judges in the UK are more sensible that US judges. Let's hope that it's merely the one US judge.
 

galaxygamer

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I don't own a smart phone, or a tablet computer, but this seems to me to be a situation in which Apple is trying to stifle competition. Why allow the buying public to choose which product they want, when you can squash the competition and only have your product on the shelf?
 

bimon_1234567

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I think Judge Colin Birss is trolling both companies at the same time. Neither company can be particularly pleased about his statement and both of them cannot really contradict him without hurting their own interests.
Righteous!
 

PixelMetal

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Jul 10, 2012
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Scow2 said:
DigitalSoapbox said:
DTWolfwood said:
Till i can get flash on an iOS product, Android products will always be better and cooler than any Apple Product.

Seeing how judges are never considered "cool" its basically an endorsement for Samsung. Much like if my grandma endorses an iProduct, tis be the kiss of death when it comes to "cool."
On vacation recently I saw a number of grandmas playing with their iPads to video chat with their grandkids. If there's a better way to convince more technologically-oriented people to stick to Android, I can't think of it.
Since when did user-friendliness and ease of use become things to be ashamed of? Personally, I don't have any tablets yet, though. I do hope to get an android, due to the lower cost and greater flexibility.
It's the lower cost and greater flexibility thing that I'm referring to - also, people who are tech geeks are not going to want something their grandmother is using (or can use).
 

Aeshi

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Anyone who makes life more difficult for Samsung/Android is ok in my book.