Apple: Samsung Deliberately Copied Our Designs Despite Google’s Warning

A recent publication by AllThingsD highlights Apple’s argument in the ongoing patents war with Samsung Electronics that the Korean tech giant deliberately copied iPhone’s and iPad’s iconic designs as well as their intuitive user interfaces, even though Google warned the company about great similarity in design of Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab with respective iOS devices. Apple further claims that Samsung was well aware of the striking resemblance and that the issue was one the company discussed internally.

According to the source:

“Samsung’s documents show the similarity of Samsung’s products is no accident or, as Samsung would have it, a ‘natural evolution,’” Apple argues in its brief. “Rather, it results from Samsung’s deliberate plan to free-ride on the iPhone’s and iPad’s extraordinary success by copying their iconic designs and intuitive user interface. Apple will rely on Samsung’s own documents, which tell an unambiguous story.”

Among those documents are a few purported to show that Samsung not only deliberately copied certain characteristics of the iPhone and iPad, but was also explicitily warned away from doing so by various third parties, including Google.

The report also samples some of Apple’s more compelling points:

  • In February 2010, Google told Samsung that Samsung’s “P1” and “P3” tablets (Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Tab 10.1) were “too similar” to the iPad and demanded “distinguishable design vis-à-vis the iPad for the P3.”
  • In 2011, Samsung’s own Product Design Group noted that it is “regrettable” that the Galaxy S “looks similar” to older iPhone models.
  • As part of a formal, Samsung-sponsored evaluation, famous designers warned Samsung that the Galaxy S “looked like it copied the iPhone too much,” and that “innovation is needed.” The designers explained that the appearance of the Galaxy S “[c]losely resembles the iPhone shape so as to have no distinguishable elements,” and “[a]ll you have to do is cover up the Samsung logo and it’s difficult to find anything different from the iPhone.”

Both companies are scheduled to go to trial on July 30th, an event being quoted by some as the “patent trial of the century”.

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.