Apple Comes Back Swinging: Says Google Warned Samsung About Devices Looking Too Similar To Apple’s
Well, it looks like we have more info on Apple’s side of the story in “Patents of Our Lives.” According to ‘ol Cupertino, they believe they have evidence showing that Google specifically warned Samsung that both their original Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab too closely resembled Apple’s iPhone and iPad — but Samsung did nothing to change the design. This coming straight from Samsung documents Apple will be presenting in court. Here’s some bullet points from Apple’s trial brief as provided by AllThingsD:
- In February 2010, Google told Samsung that Samsung’s “P1” and “P3” tablets (Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Tab 10.1) were “too similar” to the iPad and demanded “distinguishable design vis-à-vis the iPad for the P3.”
- In 2011, Samsung’s own Product Design Group noted that it is “regrettable” that the Galaxy S “looks similar” to older iPhone models.
- As part of a formal, Samsung-sponsored evaluation, famous designers warned Samsung that the Galaxy S “looked like it copied the iPhone too much,” and that “innovation is needed.” The designers explained that the appearance of the Galaxy S “[c]losely resembles the iPhone shape so as to have no distinguishable elements,” and “[a]ll you have to do is cover up the Samsung logo and it’s difficult to find anything different from the iPhone.”
It looks like Apple came back swinging. It will be interesting to see how Samsung addresses these issues later in court. I wont lie to you, even I thought the original Galaxy S looked like a knock-off iPhone 3GS back when it first launched. Still, whether or not Samsung copied Apple (who originally copied Samsung or Sony or whoever), I think can all agree Apple didn’t invent a shiny, black rectangle that makes calls, and no company — not Samsung, Motorola, Google, or Microsoft — should have a patent on something so ridiculous. What do you guys think? Is Samsung already down for the count?