“Samsung Electronics was told Wednesday to fork over five of its not-yet-released mobile phones to Apple,” Dave Tartre reports for Courthouse News Service.
“Sitting in Federal Court in San Jose, Judge Lucy Koh ruled that Apple deserves the quick production of cell phone samples three months earlier than usual in the litigation process, though she drew the line at requiring testimony from Samsung executives,” Tartre reports. “‘Apple has demonstrated good cause for some, limited expedited discovery,’ said Koh. ‘While Apple has not yet filed a motion for preliminary injunction, courts have found that expedited discovery may be justified to allow a plaintiff to determine whether to seek an early injunction,’ said Koh.”
Tartre reports, “Apple sued Samsung last month alleging patent and trademark infringement and promtply filed a motion to expedite discovery which would require early production of documents and witnesses. In its complaint, Apple claims Samsung designed products confusingly similar to Apple’s iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone, and that the products use icons similar to those used by Apple… The judge gave Samsung 30 days to hand over product samples, packaging, and package inserts to the Galaxy S2, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G, and 4G LTE or ‘Droid Charge.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Wouldn’t it be nice if, this time, at least, the legal system actually ends up punishing those who blatantly knockoff Apple’s innovations?
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Angel C.” for the heads up.]
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Occasionally, and not often, the US legal system actually works the way it was intended. As Steve Jobs promised, Apple should absolutely defend it’s patents, intellectual property, and general awesomeness. 🙂
Good comment. Unfortunately, with a judicial system as manifestly corrupted by vested interests as the third branch has become, I have very little doubt this will turn out as it should.
I hope to be proven wrong.
I have copyrighted the phrase “general awesomeness”. You will soon be hearing from my lawyers.
I have copyrighted the phrase “You will soon be hearing from my lawyers.” You will soon be hearing from my lawyers!
ouch
This is about to go horribly wrong for Samsung. And, I am glad. Watch these manufacturers start running from Android. This is an amazing play by Apple. I think the final piece in this puzzle would be for the first time Apple to license one of its OS’s to other manufacturers. Imagine when Apple wins this case if they said to Samsung, now you can license iOS for your products. It would spell the end of Android and further down the line Microsoft.
This has nothing to do with Android, but with Samsung copying the iPhone and its apps look in the Galaxy line of phones. Their icons are identical to Apple’s. Plus they even have the same dock. The Android OS looks totally different from Apple’s. In fact, Apple would do well to do some copying from Android. Android is alive and well and is not going anywhere.
We don’t know that yet. Some of the infringement counts against Samsung are also for “method and aparatus” processes that don’t have anything to do with icons and trade dress (identical design). In other words, some are aimed squarely at Android features.
In addition, we have the HTC suit (which should start moving again sometime in August), where most counts are specifically againsg features that are Android (and not HTC themselves).
The legal process against Android has not even started properly. Plenty can go wrong for Google, once the dust settles.
Android may be “alive” and that may very well be “well” but it IS most importantly “cheap” as in “free” and behaves as such…and so too do its OEMs. Android OWNs the bottom and all the cheap-ass bottom feeders who know little better will continue to love it! I wish Google well down there as I’d rather see them control the cheap-knock-off segment of a market than Microsoft…
“The Android OS looks totally different from Apple’s.”
You should have your head examined.
http://themacadvocate.com/2010/03/23/android-1-5-clock-app-are-you-serious/
Can’t possibly see why Apple would want to get that headache. At this moment, iOS is not even built to run on Samsung’s hardware. Apple would have to pour much more money into the iOS development in order to port it over to other hardware, test it and support it. What would possibly be the benefits? The additional revenue generated via licensing (fairly small), plus severe competition to the iPhone from the iPhone clones, who can depress margins to undercut Apple’s.
Apple’s only previous venture into OS licensing almost killed the company’s Mac line. Rather than expand market share, it only encouraged existing user base to upgrade to cheap clones when time came for upgrading, stealing market share away from Apple. Nothing indicates that it wouldn’t happen in the iOS space.
What are you talking about, no one is speculating that Apple will lisence iOS and give away their biggest advantage with the platform :S.
The point is Apple gets to see their new phones, and approve them as ‘not infringing patents’… And a nice little upshot of that is it delays Samsung phones release dates.
Actually Apple licensed the Newton OS as well as the Mac OS.
Apple licensed the Mac OS during their decline under brain-dead leadership (Amelio, and perhaps Spindler). The very first thing Jobs did on his return in 1997 was to yank those licenses. The company’s unique intellectual property is the engine of their transcendent success. Not only would it be a hideous mistake to license iOS, the idea is anathema to Steve Jobs. It will not happen.
Fragapple? NO WAY!
This isn’t about iOS running on other hardware; it’s about Samsung’s designs copying Apple’s trade dress and processes. Therefore Apple is demanding the right to examine not-yet-released products to gather evidence to show that Samsung is copying Apple and not developing it’s own trade dress and processes.
This is big for Apple, and very ominous for Samsung.
@Jon Doh
Android may be alive, but it is definitely not well.. Not well by a longshot.
Well, it is alive.
However, Android with 30 personalities and growing should not be considered well.
??? The Galaxy Tab 8.9 and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 are both unreleased? What’s the point in releasing a version 8.9 of something if you have 10.1 ready to go?
——RM
These are prototypes. Maybe nether will get released.
Inches, not version numbers
I guess its not how often you fight, but when.
Yes, nail Samy this son of b***h.
those copycat bastards can’t haz innovation!
Samsung should be happy thriving by being a key part of the iOS device component ecosystem, not by taking advantage of its position and copying Apple’s products.
Also, the fact that they have FIVE Android device that are set to be released is a telling indicator of how things work in “Android world.” Flood the market with many devices from many makers, cause consumer confusion, and not sell very many of any one product. Then, have a money-losing (two-for-one) fire sale just to get the unit sales numbers up.
And vice versa… It be great to see Apple get same punishment
My take on MDN tale: That would be pretty much everybody, including pc’s.