Stupid jury kills innovation/competition and hands Apple a monopoly

[famousringo]

ultima said:

famousringo said:

1. And Samsung took those steps in their press and marketing materials. What does that tell you about Samsung's intent?

2. Yes, you can:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_patent

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_dress

3. So far, the entire US legal system from the patent office to the nine jurors in this case disagrees with you.

4. If anybody owns patents on those technologies, they certainly deserve their day in court.

1. Like I said, that's irrelevant. Besides, a grid of icons on a black background seems like patentable idea to you? Physically, the Galaxy S was very different from iPhone too. Have you ever held one in your hand? It was much larger and thinner than the 3GS. And the materials used felt noticeably different. 

2. Okay, my bad. But Apple should've never been granted a patent for such an obvious and unoriginal design. How about LG, Sony, Samsung each suing and countersuing each other because their TV's look pretty much the same?

3. If you do a quick search for yourself, you'll find that they didn't indeed invent those things.

4. Screw the broken (or at the very least disgustingly inefficient) patent laws and give me an answer that you think is fair. Should Apple be fined billions for copying things from Android? My answer is no. Because everyone benefits from the idea of "borrow and improve". These lawsuits have to stop. Apple is by far the greatest culprit here, and if they stop, I'm sure everyone will drop their countersuits against them. They really are hurting innovation.

1. It absolutely is relevant. Samsung is accused of essentially stealing Apple's designs to make fake iPhones, not unlike a watchmaker making fake Rolexes or an automaker making fake Porche 911s. Samsung made a UI not just with a grid, but with the same 4 x 4 grid, with a dock below that, with a similar page indicator. Then they filled that grid with icons that have similar shapes and colours to Apple's icons. They framed that UI with hardware that had a similar speaker grille, a similar home button, and a nearly identical metal frame around it. There are a lot of touchscreen phones being made with grids and rounded corners, but Samsung is the only one being sued by Apple, because they're the only one which has gone out of its way to copy Apple designs, to make Touchwiz Android more like iOS. Samsung makes sure their work is highlighted in their marketing materials because that's the point of selling knock offs.

2. To qualify as trade dress, attributes of a product must be found to be "distinctive". Obviously what qualifies as "distinctive" and what attributes violate that distinctiveness is murky, that's why these things get argued in a court of law. If TV manufacturers think their distinctive designs are being violated to a competitors advantage, of course they also deserve their day in court.

3. I don't need to do a quick search. USPTO issued the patents, and those patents have been tested in the court of law and found valid (so far). What more proof could Apple possibly have that they did invent such technologies? Sorry, the law has more authority on this matter than raging internet nerds.

4. My answer stands. If Google wants to bring a lawsuit to Apple over patents it holds that it feels Apple ripped off, of course it's entitled to do so. Oh look, it just has. Now Apple faces the same choice Samsung did. It can decide to stop infringing and settle or it can decide to keep infringing and fight it in court.