Did Apple’s misrepresented evidence paint Samsung as the copycat unfairly?
If you ask Samsung, Google, and the majority of our readers, the Korean maker of the Galaxy S line of phones really got hosed when a jury made a $1 billion decision declaring that the company infringed on Apple software and design patents. While Samsung is seeking to have the verdict overturned due to claims of bias and misconduct, newly released court documents suggest that evidence might have been skewed to favor the maker of the iPhone and iPad.
Specifically, an internal memo from Samsung bigwig JK Shin was quoted as urging his employees to “make something like the iPhone.” Left out was the context in which Shin merely used the device as a point of comparison, saying “when everybody (both consumers and the industy) talk about UX, they weigh it against the iPhone. The iPhone has become the standard.”
Shin goes on to ask his designers to “make their own designs with conviction and confidence,” and to “make designs with faces that are creative and diverse.” Further spoiling Apple’s argument is Shin’s call to focus on screen size as a differentiating factor with statements like “our biggest asset is our screen,” and “it is very important that we make screen size bigger.”
The full statement was not presented to the jury, with Apple instead cherry-picking choice quotes to fit their argument. Would the full letter have changed the opinion of those left with the decision? That’s a hard call. But it certainly presents a different angle on the matter. One that suggests Samsung wasn’t attempting to “blatantly copy” the iPhone as Apple’s legal team has so numerous times said.
[via BGR]