Chill, Apple
Having resolved Apple's long-standing legal battle with Nokia - albeit in Nokia's favour - Apple's extensive legal team must have been looking forward to a bit of time off. Fat chance.
Such is Apple's indignation that anyone else should have the temerity to bring a touch screen mobile device to market that it immediately turned its legal crosshairs back on Samsung, who it has already accused of copying the iPhone with its Galaxy S smartphone.
Tech patent watcher FOSS Patents has had a good old obsess about an amendment to the Apple complaint, filed yesterday, in which it expands its accusations on several fronts.
The biggest difference is that Apple now asserts Samsung's latest mobile devices - the Galaxy S 2 and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 - also copy its designs. It also strengthened the terms it used to accuse Samsung of copying, and elaborated on what it believes was copied.
Getting particular attention is having a flat, clean, featureless front to the phone, as opposed to the numerous buttons phones used to have on the front in the olden days. Apple pioneered this approach to phone design, insists the complaint. But by extension nobody should be allowed to produce a button -free smartphone because Apple did it first. Surely that's untenable.
Today is the deadline set by the courts for Samsung to serve up various devices for Apple's lawyers to inspect and use to substantiate their case. Samsung had, of course, counter-sued, and subsequently added some spice to its action by demanding Apple hand over iPhone and iPad models under development to assist Samsung in its defence.
FOSS Patents reckons there's a good chance Apple's preparing to file a motion for a preliminary injunction, which could result in Samsung having to take some of its products off the market. If Apple looks likely to succeed in such an action that would greatly improve its bargaining position and make it much more likely that Samsung would settle out of court in Apple's favour. Here's the chart detailing the nature of the legal action.
Apple vs Samsung 11.06.16
I still find it hard to sympathise with Apple on this one. Patents are one thing, but look and feel are quite different. Yes, Apple has defined the look and feel of the modern mobile device, not least by showing the market you don't need hard keys, but that shouldn't give it the right to prevent other people from following its lead.
Reverse engineering happens all the time and is perfectly legal, as is derivative branding, such as supermarket own-brands mimicking established brands. Nearly all creative endeavours are derivative of things that came before them to some extent, but as long as they contain some unique material they're generally considered original.
There has to be a limit to the extent to which any company can prevent everyone else making products or using words that are reminiscent of its own. If no patents or copyright have been breached, then it should be fair game, and trying to prevent any similar innovations seems monopolistic in intent to me.
Oh, and before I forget, Oracle revealed it wants billions of dollars from Google for infringing Java patents, which it acquired with Sun Microsystems. Fun!
