Samsung Halts Galaxy Tablet Promotion In Germany 325
An anonymous reader writes "Samsung Electronics said Sunday it has pulled its latest Galaxy tablet from the IFA trade show in Berlin, after a German court approved an Apple-requested injunction — the latest move in a wide-reaching patent dispute between the two firms."
That backfired. (Score:4, Interesting)
Clever, Apple, clever. Today from the "How do i make my competitor look more important than he probably is"-department.
Attention for free. Show you tablet one day on a Exhibition, then get the free headlines that "It was pulled due to a court order from Apple".
This directly makes the tables an competitor to the ipad (which they are not, they have different audiences, different sizes, and different advantages/disadvantages; i could well imagine to buy both).
Counter claim: 3, 2, 1 (Score:4, Interesting)
Apples claims will not stand up to reality.
Will this bite Apple? (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder if this will end up hurting Apple because it will start people thinking that if Apple is trying tactics like this to stop sales of the Galaxy Tab, then the Galaxy Tab must offer serious competition to the iPad. Apple normally don't resort to legal tactics to stop competitors since they can usually rely on producing a better product.
The fact that the display booth at IFA was hastily covered up [engadget.com] just smells of desperation on Apple's part. Of course it's more complicated than that, but most people won't see it that way. I suspect this battle will just result in bad PR for Apple, and extra publicity for Samsung.
Re:Choice decided by courts (Score:5, Interesting)
good artists copy, great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas
Source: Steve Jobs himself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU [youtube.com]
On the Engadget Blog... (Score:5, Interesting)
This was posted there last night, and I was pretty surprised at the anger towards Apple in the comments (The comments there have since degenerated into an Apple Fanboi vs. the rest of the world "ur mom" catfight). But the general tone is clear: Apple could not have done more or better marketing for Samsung's devices. Apple is also royally hurting its own sacred brand with these type of actions, as the perception of Apple as the feisty underdog becomes one of an abusive monopoly similar to the way Microsoft has long been perceived.
Re:Will this bite Apple? (Score:4, Interesting)
No.
1. Most consumers don't know and don't care.
2. Apple is still turning out high quality.
3. Most consumers feel good about choosing a winner.
Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa (Score:5, Interesting)
So, if visual design is what matters, and not the software (which is different since the iOS is so superior as you would remind us), what do you think about this Samsung digital picture frame from 2006?:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/samsung-digital-picture-frame-stores-pics-movies-music/ [engadget.com]
Form follows function, which is why every TV and computing device is destined to look the same once a level of miniaturization is reached. That's why you see similar tablets in a 1970s TV show ("The Tomorrow People") and a movie from the 1960s ("2001 a Space Odyssey").
Apple certainly is a style trendsetter, but really it is more about bringing things to market that are the closest to what the visionaries have already described. There's a rather clear evolution from other mp3 players through to the ipod, iphone, and then ipad. And yes, along the way things came from non-Apple sources too.. the next iphone will have screen dimensions suspiciously like an HTC EVO, and a notification bar straight from Android. That's what happens in competition.
I'm sorry this conflicts with your worldview that all these nice Apple products were invented in a vacuum.
Re:Android devices before and after the iPhone/iPa (Score:4, Interesting)
The suit in Germany is based on the European Community-Design 000181607-0001 [scribd.com] - filed in May 2004
Any "prior art" prior to 2004 please.
An oft-overlooked - but crucial - point of CD filings: you must have your design registered AND start using it for it to be considered 'active'. Just like registered trademarks in the US - they are not considered live and enforceable until you start using them in commerce.
Was Apple using that design back in 2004? No? When did they start using that design in commerce? Until that date - the design was registered but not enforceable. And like trademarks, others who use your registered design before you start using it are indemnified from infringement issues (it's why you often have small local mom-and-pop stores using "registered names/trademarks" without problem - they were using them before the larger entity registered and/or used the mark).
Samsung was using that design back in 2006 [blogcdn.com], well before the iPhone existed or the iPad was even announced.