Apple sued Samsung as one of the most recent and long line of intellectual property suits that have impacted the smartphone industry of the world. Apple alleged that Samsung has infringed on the number of the company’s patents and trademarks of its Galaxy range of mobile phones and tablets.
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This fight of patent right began in April when Apple sued Samsung for using the patented feel and outlook of its iPhone and iPad for Samsung’s Galaxy series. The first suit that was filed in US District Court of Northern California alleged patent and trademark infringement and unfair trade practices.
The following are the claims that Apple made against Samsung:
Trade Dress Infringement:
1. Trade Dress is a legal term and it generally refers to the charac- teristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging, thus signifying the source of the product to the consumers.
Apple had claimed to Trade Dress registration for the appearance and design of the iPhone, the iPod touch and the iPad along with its unique user interface and product packaging.
According to Apple, following are the points where Samsung is guilty:
A rectangular shape of the product with all its four corners uniformly rounded.
The front surface of the product is dominated by a screen surface with black borders.
The iPhone and iPod touch products have substantial black borders above and below the screen
and have roughly equal width.
The iPad product has substantial black borders on all sides being roughly equal in width.
A metallic frame surrounds the perimeter of the top surface.
A display of a grid of colorful square icons with uniformly rounded corners.
A bottom row of square icons set off from the other icons and that do not change as the other
pages of the user interface are viewed.
It has minimal metallic silver lettering on rectangular box and a large front-view picture of the
product prominently on the top surface of the box.
A two-piece box wherein the bottom piece is completely nested in the top piece and use of a tray
that cradles products to make them immediately visible upon opening the box.
Figure 2: Handset of Apple and Samsung Icons:
2. Apple also claimed that many of Samsung’s Touch Wiz UI application icons for phone, photos, notes, contrast and setting are very similar to that of iOS. Apple has the trademark for these icons and it claims that Samsung has unethically copied it in its Touch Wiz UI.
Figure 3 shows some of the icons of Samsung that Apple claims is an infringement of its registered design:
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Figure 3: Apple icons vs Samsung icons
Common Law Trademark Infringement:
3. Common law trademark specifi es that the use of
an identical or somewhat similar trademark for similar or identical goods or services to that of a registered trademark leads to an infringement of registered trademark if its use leads to misconception or confusion on the part of the consumers.
One of the main claims of Apple against Samsung is that Samsung’s use of Apple’s icon would provide it with unfair benefi t from Apple’s brand image and success, giving Samsung’s product sales and value in the market which would otherwise have been diffi cult for Samsung.
Unfair Business Practices under the California Business and Professions Code:
4. Apple alleged
that Samsung is likely to make misleading and deceiving use of the intellectual property thereby undertaking fraudulent trade practices in violation of California Business and Profession Code.
Unjust Enrichment:
5. Unjust enrichment basically refers to a situation wherein one party, i.e., Samsung in this case, takes undue advantage or benefi t on the expense of other, i.e., Apple in this case. Apple claims that because of Samsung’s infringement of device, design and icons the company has incurred cost in untold millions.
The Patent Infringement:
6. Apple has claimed that Samsung has made an illegal use of its patented technology along with its design and styling. Apple’s patents are divided into two different groups: Utility Patents and Design Patents.
Utility Patents Infringement includes:
Method and apparatus for displaying and accessing control and status information in a computer
system
List scrolling and document translation, scaling and rotation on a touch-screen display
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Method and apparatus for displaying information during an instant messaging session
Ellipse fi tting for multi-touch surfaces
Application programming interfaces for scrolling operations
Method and apparatus for displaying a window for a user interface
Cantilevered push button having multiple contacts and fulcrums
Design Patent Infringement includes:
Graphical user interface for a display screen or portion
iPhone 3G/3GS design, which presumably also covers Apple’s iPod as well; this patent does not
cover Apple’s Home button Apple’s Home button
Apple vs Samsung Global Cold War
Apple sued Samsung in three main countries. They are the following:
Australia:
1. Apple sued Samsung in Australia and claimed that Samsung had copied its design of iPad for its product of Galaxy Tab 10.1. The companies faced each other in the Australian court where Apple made a case against Samsung on the grounds of patent and design infringement.
Samsung retaliated stating that Galaxy Tab 10.1 set to release in Australia was different than that of Apple’s. But to avoid offi cial injunction, Samsung agreed to hold off the release and advertising its product till the Court gives out its verdict.
Germany: Apple also sued Samsung in Germany claiming that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 mim- icked Apple’s registered design for the product iPad. Apple requested a preliminary injunction.
The injunction barred both Samsung’s German subsidiary and its Korean parent company from distributing or selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the entire EU.
After a hearing, the German court reaffi rmed its decision against Samsung’s German subsidiary and its lifting of the injunction with respect to Samsung’s Korean parent company. However, it will give consideration to the arguments made by both Samsung and Apple before issuing a fi nal decision.
Netherlands:
2. Apple’s lawsuit in the Netherlands was more damaging to Samsung because of the fact that Samsung’s European logistics are handled by Netherlands-based Samsung Logistics BV. Apple stated that Samsung’s tablets and smartphones violated both the European Union Community Design and several functional European patents.
A preliminary injunction was issued for Samsung’s Android-based smartphones. The judge favoured the claims made by Samsung that its devices did not violate Apple’s patents for
“the slide-to-unlock gesture” and for registering multitouch events. Here it seems like a victory for Samsung and all its users.
Samsung’s Countersuing
Samsung Electronics has countered quickly and opened lawsuits in Germany, Japan and South Korea – accusing Apple that it has no rights to use certain patents. “Samsung is actively responding to actions taken against us, just to protect our intellectual property,” says the company release. The lawsuits fi led
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by Samsung against Apple relates to fi ve patent infringements in regard to the optimization of data transmission and synchronization of the phone with the PC.
According to Apple Insider, Android fans accuse the people at Apple that they copied Samsung products. In support of this statement, a viral document was released containing an info graphics with a comparison between Samsung F700 terminal and a fi rst-generation iPhone.