Apple has filed a lawsuit against Samsung, for “slavishly” copying iPhone and iPad designs in the Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets. An Apple representative told Mobilized, “It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. This kind of protusive copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.” Mobilized blogger Ina Fried reported that the lawsuit was filed in US District Court in North Carolina for infringing number of Apple patents and trademarks.
Apple has filed a detailed lawsuit, that contains loads of images as proof of how Samsung has copied Apple at several levels – from core technology to screen icons and form factor of the devices. Apple blames Samsung of copying even its packaging. Now this is indeed vague as Samsung, over the years, has been supplying Apple with microchips for the Apple products. However, in the last two years, Apple has been working on its own version of processors for iOS products.
Samsung’s response:
Samsung’s development of core technologies and strengthening our intellectual property portfolio are keys to our continued success. Samsung will respond actively to this legal action taken against us through appropriate legal measures to protect our intellectual property.
It’s not the first time Apple has sued a smartphone maker. Last year, Apple has sued HTC, Nokia and Motorola for infringing Apple’s patents and trademarks.
Samsung’s reply suggests that the company will indeed counter sue Apple. Some analysts say this shows that Apple is getting concerned with the increasing popularity of Android OS based smartphones. Also a recent report has stated that Android will have about 50 percent of the mobile operating system market share worldwide by year-end 2012.