German Court Upholds Ban On Samsung Galaxy Tab

A user writes "It seems Samsung has finally lost the battle against Apple in Germany. Today the district court in Düsseldorf ruled that Samsung must not sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany. Furthermore, it has banned Samsung Germany from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 anywhere in Europe."

Re:Apple

[wsxyz]

Obviously the judge didn't bother to read the evidence or he would have realized that the whole case is just Apple trying to patent rectangles.

Re:Prior art

[LynnwoodRooster]

It's not a design patent, but a design trademark. And as with all trademarks, you can register it but it does not take effect - nor have the ability to limit other's use - until it is used in commerce (you can't squat on trademarks - you have to use them). Since Samsung started using similar designs in 2006 - well before Apple used the design trademark - Samsung should be exempt from enforcement. I'm sure that's part of what Samsung will argue - and also why the Dutch court found the exact opposite of the German court.

Re:Can anyone tell me...

[shutdown -p now]

What, you've never complained about a missing or broken feature in an Apple product before?

My favorite is still this forum thread [ipadforums.net] where a guy is complaining that he's using "hun" to address his girlfriend, and iPad email and chat apps always capitalize it; so he was asking for a way to add his spelling to the spell checker dictionary - and, apparently, it is simply not extensible in iOS. The advice he got from a resident Apple fan:

"call her something else besides hun? Honey? Baby? Babe? Seems like an easy fix."

You're holding it wrong, indeed.

Re:The relevant piece of so-called "IP"

[Ster]

I came across this yesterday and found it interesting (comparisons of what Samsung's tablets looked like before and after the iPad came out):

• Hardware Design [peanutbuttereggdirt.com]
• Interface Icons [peanutbuttereggdirt.com]
• Package Design [peanutbuttereggdirt.com]

It seems like it's not quite as silly as it's usually been presented. (Don't get me wrong, I do think it's silly.)

-Ster