Just when you thought you had seen and heard of most of the major litigations, patent infringement suits and legal tussles in the tech arena, here comes yet another one. The latest one features Apple and Samsung. The latest lawsuit is against Samsung’s “Galaxy” branded products which Apple thinks uses UI elements and design which are similar to popular Apple products. The lawsuit claims that even the recently announced iPad competitors, the Galaxy Tab have designs that resemble that of the iPad. Apple is not happy about it and decided to file this detailed 38 page lawsuit.
The lawsuit also has side by side UI and design comparison of products starting with the i9000 Galaxy S – an Android smartphone released last year. Apple has also included images of icons used by Apple and Samsung to compare the similarities between the UI. That said, it might have taken a lot of guts for Apple to sue Samsung because this very company supplies them with its A4 and A5 processors – ironically used in the same products that Apple says have been copied by Samsung.
Samsung, which chose to release just a customary statement against the lawsuit initially that read “Samsung’s development of core technologies and strengthening our intellectual property portfolio are keys to our continued success.” has now said that they would be taking necessary counter steps to thwart Apple’s allegations. In a statement Samsung has clarified; “Samsung will respond actively to this legal action taken against us through appropriate legal measures to protect our intellectual property.“
Samsung also made clear that even though Apple is one of their largest clients for their semiconductor, displays and processors (spending $5.7 billion buying stuff from them in 2010) they are left with no choice but to respond strongly.
Lets see how this latest clash of the titans ends up. The question now is, which side are you on?
I’m obviously on Apple’s side. If it wasn’t for the iPhone and iOS, Android and the entire range of Galaxy smartphones wouldn’t exist. If it wasn’t for the iPad, the Galaxy Tab wouldn’t exist.
By launching copy-cat products and pushing them through high-budget marketing campaigns, Samsung (and the others) are merely confusing the customers with a plethora of options that should never exist in the first place.
Aalaap, dont you think its a shot at Android?