“A German court on Friday banned the sale of Samsung’s newest Galaxy Tab tablet computer in Europe’s largest market as it upheld a complaint by Apple that its South Korean rival lifted the design from its iPad,” Gerrit Wiesmann and Christian Oliver report for The Financial Times.
“The court in Düsseldorf, north western Germany, ruled that ‘informed customers’ were of the ‘overall impression’ that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet PC was meant to look like the minimalist iPad even though other designs were possible,” Wiesmann and Oliver report. “‘The court is of the opinion that Apple’s minimalist design is not the only technical solution to make a tablet computer,’ Ms Brückner-Hofmann said in a hearing convened to deliver the verdict. ‘“Other designs are possible.'”
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Wiesmann and Oliver report, “Samsung will appeal, saying the tablet’s design is ‘very generic’ and not modelled on the iPad.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Boom!
This time around there’s no poorly-written contract signed by an unprepared sugared water salesbozo for those inclined to rip-off Apple’s IP to hide behind.
• We’ve been pushing the state-of-the-art in every facet of design… We’ve been innovating like crazy for the last few years on this and we’ve filed for over 200 patents for all of the inventions in iPhone. And we intend to protect them. – Apple CEO Steve Jobs when unveiling iPhone, January 9, 2007
• We like competition as long as they don’t rip off our IP, in which case we will go after them. We will not stand for having our IP ripped-off and we will use any weapons at our disposal [to stop it]. – Apple COO Tim Cook, January 21, 2009
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “GetMeOnTop” for the heads up.]
I’m so glad that apple didn’t invent the automobile – we’d all have to drive motorcycles or tricycles around everywhere since they would have sued anyone that came out with a 4 wheeled car.
Interesting too different opinions one form the dutch another from the germans
While your attempt to make a point is well taken, your choice of product description is way off.
I am sure if you looked at a Russian Lada, or a Lamborghini, or a Chevy Malibu, you would not be able to say that Toyota is copying their look and feel in the Prius.
Try coming up with a more logical product to slam Apple in your argument and maybe someone will take you serious.
Maybe the guy has a point? If he’s Korean he’ll look at a Hyundai as an “original” and “innovative” piece of work…where the rest of the world will see little more than a piece of…something else.
I’d probably drive the Apple car. 50 million other people would by one in the first year, too.
Remember, the tablet PC has been around for a long time. Apple didn’t invent it. They just made one that people want and should not have their model photocopied. Lots of companies make cars and there’s lots of models. Samsung and others can come up with their own. You don’t see Ford trying to make a BMW or Ferrari clone.
I’d wish an all aluminium, brushed surface, german crafted iCar, “designed by Apple/California+powered by Porsche/Germany”
Wouldn’t that be a nice one?
I’ll take a black one, if you please 😀
Yea, but could I get the windows with a matte finish please? 😉
Being obtuse is not a virtue.
Yes, because every car made off the assembly line looks exactly like a model T in 2011. Right?
There is more about design than just the shape or how many tires it has. Those pragmatic and aesthetic choices are PART of the design, not wholly encompassing. Clearly the german courts see it. Samsung was and is in the wrong.
And if apple built a car, it would embarrass car manufacturers like they did with the iMac, PMP, phones, and tablet PCS and Helvetica (which microsoft also poorly copied and named it Arial, a tawdry facsimile). The car makers are also dinosaurs with no vision still making cars with 19th century power plants. ITS EMBARRASSING! The fact we do not have solar powered cars, fully electric vehicles, and trucks using renewable fuel is insult to technology.
The people in the 50’s thought everyone in the future would have a flying car in their driveway.
In the U.S. at least, big business IS an insult to technology, and to science. Samsung’s tablet is a shameless copy of the iPad. How could anyone with half a brain think otherwise?
The usual nonsense hypothetical used to criticize Apple.
4 wheels would not have been patentable due to obviousness, as putting a motorized engine on a cart, which pre-existed, the automobile, already had 4 wheels.
But if the wheel has unique features that others have not innovated on or added in before, then it is patentable. A wheel is a basic design, but throughout its history there were thousands of patents associated with the wheel being awarded such a disc brake, tubeless tyre, etc.
I am sure there were patent fights about automobiles, too. But that was a long time ago.
Patents have a limited life and grant the inventor a limited time to get a return on his investment. The limited time varies but if it is 17 years, then Samsung, et, al can produce iPads starting 2027.
Nice try, but if you actually took the time to read the complaint, you would know that Apple has a long list of design features that make up the entirety of their product’s designs… Unlike other manufacturers that may have a few of the same features, Samsung’s products have ALL the features listed.
If apple had invented the automobile, most probably will be the only car every one will want just like ti happened with the iPod, the iPhone or the iPad.
There are a lot of computer out there and I got my self a Mac, because it is the best.
So if apple had invented the automobile, it will be a problem for the “Apple haters” or conformist, not a problem for people who enjoy good products 😉
Remember, if automobiles had advanced as far as computers, automobiles would:
– Get 50,000,000 miles per gallon;
– Be the size of a Smart(tm) car on the outside, and the size of a city bus on the inside;
– Drive themselves with no (major) accidents on freeways/motorways, primary highways, and major city streets;
– Contain a full kitchen; and
– Explode every 6 months, killing everyone inside.
We don’t all have to use non-intermittent wipers, simply because it wasn’t a car company that patented them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kearns
Up yours Sam- sung!
Pack em, stack em and rack em. Time to send those clones back to Samsung’s headquarters. The industry needs to learn that innovation does not mean copying someone else’s product. Innovation means creating something of your own and standing proudly behind that product.
Ein iPad, ein Deutschland!
Ja, das ist richtig !
Why don’t you go all the way and say instead Ein iPad, ein Welt. That is at least in accordance with reality, with or without banning the copiators.
I agree with you on one thing, keep it simple, but not too simple, stupid !
Wow! Banned in Boston used to be a big deal. But banned in an entire country!! That’s really big.
LIKE! 😉
In case people have forgotten, Tablet PCs were around before the iPad was introduced. They were of a different design. So for Samsung to claim Apple’s minimalist design is the only way to build a Tablet PC is ludicrous.
Hyundai Genesis Sedan, a rip-off from German’s Benz and BMW
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_0801_2009_hyundai_genesis_sedan/
Ipad über alles!! ^^
Apple are being pathetic about this. They must be scared.