Last week, we talked about a UK high court ruling that the Samsung Galaxy Tab does not infringe Apple’s iPad design patent. The reasoning was rather amusing, clearly stating that the Galaxy Tab was “not as cool looking” as the iPad. Now, the talk has went over to a different tablet, the Motorola Xoom. A German court found that the Xoom does not infringe upon the iPad design patent either, chalking up another victory for Android manufacturers.
Apple has no plans on stopping anytime soon so we’ll for sure see more of this lawsuits in years to come. Anyways, this was the same court that rejected the infringement claims with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. It’s becoming more and more clear that Apple’s patents are a bit wishy washy.
For example, in the case with the UK high court, there were over 50 examples of prior art which showed that the iPad was not the first to feature that design.
Apple itself is not necessarily to blame for registering these patents. It’s the government that allows them to be approved and which causes a stranglehold on other companies who make similar products. For there to be true and everlasting change, the patent system needs to be reformed. Until then, nothing will change. The German court also ruled against Motorola’s claim that the iPad’s design registration is invalid. Both findings seem to cancel each other out.