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by siglesias 5422 days ago
Are rectangular shape, size and weight the only similarities you can find? Check out the side by sides: http://thisismynext.com/2011/04/19/apple-sues-samsung-analys...

I'm sure you could hire a creative team to come up with 100 iterations of tablets and icons (as I'm sure Apple did) that would look nothing like an iPad. In light of those 100 the similarities would look more apparent than ever.

3 comments

This doesn’t seem to be about the software at all, only the look of the enclosure. (Also: You are linking to an article about phones.)
The assumption is that if Samsung's design heuristic with the iPhone competitor (as linked to) was to copy, then I see no reason why their heuristic would be different on the tablet.

As it is, my point regarding the level of similarity between the Tab and iPad still holds--it's not simply a matter of shape, size, and weight; even if it were, where does the assumption come from that Apple's form factor for the iPad was obvious?

This lawsuit, however, seems to be only about the general shape. It doesn’t make much sense to say that the result of a lawsuit about the shape is justified because of the software or other factors unrelated to the shape.

As for obviousness, let me submit exhibit A, used in 1994: http://de.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Datei:Plan_des_Arboretums.jp...

This doesn't resemble an iPad to me, and even if it did the obscurity of the source nullifies any claim to obviousness. You know, at some level of abstraction you can show that any two designs are the same, but I think the level of abstraction you have chosen goes too far and doesn't get at the essence of the claim.
Shrug

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 doesn’t resemble an iPad to me. You know, at some level of abstraction you can show that any two designs are the same, but I think the level of abstraction you have chosen goes too far.

Let's get one more side by side: http://cl.ly/3h30350I0c0P0W401N3c

The obscure device you found is on the left. iPad which is an actual product, is in the middle. Samsung's Tab is on the right. The iPad and Tab are practically identical.

The left two are only similar in that they are both rectangular. The bezel size, color, texture, and material are all different.

You can't argue a:b :: b:c.

Clearly indicated by others already, this is about the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and not phones.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is very generic and the interface is pure honeycomb.

That article seems to talk mostly about the phones. When it was first written I recall this image being brought up in response: http://photos.appleinsider.com/Sam.Apple.001.jpg
And the response to that image was to point out that its dates are completely wrong, and that the very first time the F700 was shown was at CEBIT 2007 (not 2006) in March, after the first appearance of the iPhone.