Now that the dust has mostly settled in the legal battle between Apple and Samsung, let’s explore one of the issues of copyright regarding the Samsung Galaxy Tab that was at the center of the debate. Both the mobile phone giants tried their best to win this legal battle through depositions and court witnesses, which proved to be a difficult dilemma for Samsung.
Galaxy Tab and iPad Design Issues
Designer Testimony
According to Jin Soo Kim, the industrial designer who worked on the design of Galaxy Tab 10.1, the work for the Samsung tablet was started in October, 2009. He also presented an email dated 2006, which clearly shows that the work on the Tab was underway in 2006.
This was much before the scheduled unveiling of iPad 1 and iPad 2, which took place in January 2010 and 2011 respectively. Kim further added to his testimony that the major goal of Samsung was to get the largest screen on a fairly smaller piece of hardware.
Total Denial of Guilt
Kim acknowledged the fact that there were certain amendments and design changes done to the Galaxy tablet. He also clarified that it was done only keeping competitive factors in mind, while there were no intentions to replicate the iPad’s design. Kim denied allegations that he attempted to copy the design of Apple products at any point in time during the designing process of the Galaxy Tab.
Kim also did not acknowledge rumors claiming that Google had sent an email to Samsung asking the phone manufacturer to change its designs of the Galaxy phone series. The email from Google actually referred to the design issues relating to the original Galaxy Tab, which apparently never made it to the consumer market.
The Outcome
In the end, Judge Lucy Koh handed Applean injunction against Samsung selling their Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the US, agreeing that the device infringes on several of Apple’s iPad patents.
Since you won’t be able to buy a new one anytime soon, if you already own the Galaxy Tab and need repairs, contact iFixYouri for experienced technicians.