Samsung Withdraws Counter-Suit Against Apple 172
tekgoblin writes "Samsung has withdrawn a counter-suit against Apple in their ongoing legal battle which concerns similarities in the iOS device lineup against the Galaxy S lineup from Samsung. The counter-suit concerned the design of the user interface being very similar to that of Samsung's: 'related to fundamental innovations that increase mobile device reliability, efficiency, and quality, and improve user interface in mobile handsets and other products.'"
Who gives a shit! (Score:5, Insightful)
The issue is not whether Apple or Samsung are right - it's that this shit is patentable in the first place.
"Look and feel" bullshit (Score:3, Insightful)
If only Apple would withdraw it's lawsuit against Samsung [androidcentral.com] over the same ridiculous "look and feel" claim. Why should either Samsung or Apple have exclusive rights over what's ultimately a rectangular grid of icons? It would be like giving the company that released the first touch-tone phone exclusive rights over the layout and appearance of the touch-tone keypad.
Re:"Look and feel" bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
Such as, say, the phone's shape [amazonaws.com]?
Which particular aspects of the iPhone UI do you think should be owned exclusively by Apple? If Apple were to sell its UI as a product (just the UI, not the operating system), what would the sales brochure look like?
Re:"Look and feel" bullshit (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Who gives a shit! (Score:4, Insightful)
And that itself was influenced by Apple's Newton [guidebookgallery.org]. It's all a mishmash of influences. What matters is that eventually Palm hit on the definitive UI in the stylus era and iPhone finally hit the sweet spot in the touchscreen era.