“The iPhone of Apple Computer is allegedly a clone of a handset made by the Seoul-based LG Electronics, the world’s fifth-largest cell phone manufacturer,” Kim Tae-gyu reports for The Korea Times.
“…If LG sues Apple over patent infingement, it would be the second lawsuit against the iPhone after its long awaited release,” Tae-gyu reports. “As soon as Apple boss Steve Jobs revealed the iPhone last week, U.S. network company Cisco Systems filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming trademark rights on the iPhone [name].”
Tae-gyu reports, “LG Electronics also thinks the two gadgets are almost identical but the company seems undecided as to whether or not to cry foul against Apple through court action. ‘At first glance, we recognized the iPhone shares many form factors with the Prada phone. We are flattered that other makers follow our design policy,’ LG spokesman Lee Hyoung-kun said. ‘We can’t say at the moment whether or not we will file a lawsuit against Apple regarding this. It’s too early to make remarks on the issues,’ Lee said.”
“Experts predict that if the two phones share functionalities on top of looks, LG might file a complaint,” Tae-gyu reports. “LG has yet to reveal specifications of the Prada phone, which the firm looks to market soon. Yet, its exterior was shown to the public when it won the International Forum Design Product Design Award for 2007.”
Full article here.
LG spokesman Lee Hyoung-kun is correct that it’s too early to make remarks on the issues. One big question is how does the LG’s user interface work? Is the LG multi-touch or just “uni-touch?” An even bigger question would be who actually holds the patents that relate to each phone?
Apple’s iPhone user interface “is the result of years of research and development” and “boy, have we patented it.” – Apple CEO Steve Jobs, January 09, 2007
The Prada is a re-branded LG KE850 phone. A demo of the phone via YouTube (in French):
Apple Inc’s Phil Schiller shows CBS News’ John Blackstone some of the many features of the iPhone:
The LG phone isn’t even for sale yet, and LG hasn’t released its specs. How can they claim Apple copied anything from it?
John Sculley did something right – he created a touch screen PDA with a button-based interface and manipulation a decade before LG. Apple can claim it is based on the Newton with a phone, music and internet options thrown in.
Here’s another example of LG showboating. They “thought” about suing Samsung for copying the Chocolate phone with their E900 ultra-thin slider:
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200607/kt2006072317554153460.htm
Same cookie-cutter Korea Times article. Of course LG didn’t do squat because they didn’t have a case, instead using these incidents for free publicity.
Previously it didn’t make much noise. However the iPhone is currently the biggest story in tech and there’s a tremendous campaign of FUD to tear it down. This time it might have legs.
Although there are simularities I don’t think the LG would win a lawsuit. Remember jobs said he’s got over 200 patents on the iPhone. I also don’t think it had the pinch or scroll capabilities on the LG phone either. We know the LG phone is not running OSX of any kind so the operating system would also be different. The display on the LG looked terrible compared to the iPhone. It looked washed out and the color wasn’t very good either.
LG squatted.
Really ??????
Prada Phone???
Where can I get one? – I quite like it! It’ll put me on until the iPhone (or whatever) is released in the UK.
No accelerometer, no multi-touch, no proximity detector, no ambient light sensor, no os x, no web browser …
no lawsuit.
You lost me at scrolling.
speaking of scrolling, why does the LG phone have scroll bars that require the user to place their finger over the scroll bar instead of just scrolling across the screen ala iPhone. It’s the details that will make people buy the iPhone.
Just because you have to touch the screen doesn’t mean its the same device. I click a mouse a type on a keyboard, doesn’t mean I’m using a Mac?
LG’s and Apple’s phones are not even on the market yet. How could Apple copy LG’s design without even seeing it. Maybe Apple had a look at it when LG won that award a few weeks ago…but you can’t crank out a top-notch UI like the iPhone has in just a few weeks. As Apple said, the development of the iPhone has taken years. As others have said, its inevitable that some things will look similar when moving to an all-touch UI. But that navigation bar at the bottom of the iPhone and LG’s phone is not new…my Newton MP 130 has one just like it.
Shakespeare had the solution to this long ago:
“The first thing we must do is kill all the lawyers.” — King Henry VI
LG is a savy company, they likely have filed patents on their design. I suspect if they come out with a window’s mobile (especially a vista mobile) version of this phone for less than the $500 iphone and offer it to a variety of carrier’s, this device will REALLY hurt Apple’s sales.
I for one haven’t renewed my Verizon contract because I wanted to hold out for the iphone… but if this device is offered by Verizon for less money, I’d have to reconsider. I suspect many others would too.
Hopefully Apple will introduce the phone at a lower price point and/or more features (i.e. iChat with video) by June.
to LG Has No Patents:
COMBINATION PDA AND DISPLAY DEVICE OF IP PHONE, ENABLING USER TO USE DISPLAY UNIT OF THE PDA BY COMBINING THE IP PHONE WITH THE PDA in my patents list
Inventor: KIM HYEON JUN Applicant: LG ELECTRONICS INC
EC: IPC: H04L12/66; H04L12/66; (IPC1-7): H04L12/66
Publication info: KR20040081647 – 2004-09-22
LG has numerous patents on mobile phone/touchscreen devices.
Guess they didn’t want to give Apple any more free publicity…
Hmmm… if Taiwan and the Luxpro iPod shuffle wannabe can get away with copycats, I can imagine Apple would have no trouble. But since I belive that Apple probably has the patents (over 200 of them), then LG will be the one to go home crying.
the lg fone is running windows
windows is a mac clone
my tv remote looks like an iphone
a black rectangle with a touchscreen
I agree with Q.
It would be nice to have an alternative.
Cingular and ATT in Northern California is an abomination.
It is absurd to think of this as any kind of iPhone alternative. For Christ’s sake it’s the same piece of crap touchscreen of today, the reason why we were turned away from the idea in the first place. It’s not OS X, it’s either some LG proprietary interface or Windoze designed to look like the Mac OS. I guaran-damn-tee it doesn’t have half the functionality of Multi-touch.
If you could see yourself with this, why wait? Go ahead and get that BlackBerry Pearl or the Dash. You already have plenty piece of shit alternatives to the iPhone, only difference is that Motorola and Samsung and Nokia will soon disguise them to look like this LG Prada-wannabe.
Too much about form factor. Could GM or Ford sue Hyundai or Kia because they have sheet metal covering 4 wheels and the thing moves with the assistance of a internal combustion engine? I think not!
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>Apple has patented the touchscreen phone idea
NO THEY HAVEN’T!
Apple’s patents apply to the user interface and the software on the phone. LG’s potential lawsuit would be over the design of the hardware device. I think the Prada does have an unmistakable resemblance to the iPhone, and since the Prada was unveilled long before the iPhone, LG is not “without grounds” for a lawsuit.
If you want to make the case that all phones look the same, and that everything from a Texas Instruments calculator to a TV remote to the iPhone all look the same fine. But then don’t go extolling the iPhone as “beautiful” and “gorgeous” or extolling Apple for its innovative and brilliant industrial design.
Personally, I think LG’s has a credible (but small) beef with Apple. But I doubt they’ll file a lawsuit anyway.
So does Prada make a bag called “The LG”?
also, couldn’t that Frog cameradude put a piece of tape over his dam red light? Please?
MW:later, as in “later”
Thanks for the heads up MDN. I never heard of LGs phone untill today. Damn I thought Apple was first with the touch screen design. I too am now flaccid with rage.
I smell an attempt to ride on the iPhone publicity here. Looks like the similarity is full size touchscreen (of some sort), icon buttons (of some sort), phone. That’s hardly unique. And to my eye, they don’t look the same at all.
But LG gets its headlines…