Oh, the patent battles. An unfortunate and common occurrence in the World of smartphones and tablets. Apple has went after manufacturers in a number of different countries and one of the cases was in the UK where they claimed that Samsung infringed upon the iPad with their line of Galaxy Tab tablets. For those who don’t know, Apple holds a patent for the design of the iPad.
Sadly for them, their argument did not hold up in court. The UK high court ruled that the Galaxy Tab doesn’t infringe because it’s not as nicely designed as the iPad. The UK Judge Colin Biriss essentially said that they don’t have the same simplicity and understatedness as Apple’s tablet. So, in a way, the court ruled that it can’t be infringing because it doesn’t look as cool.
Sure, they both look similar, but it’s kind of hard for two devices of the same function and form factor, to not look similar. What’s also worth noting is that there were approximately 50 examples of prior art which showed that the iPad was not the first tablet to feature its design. This information was probably what killed Apple’s argument as that’s a pretty extensive list of similarly designed devices.
Still however, the tech giant went on to say that they will continue to protect their intellectually property when companies “steal” their ideas. Now only if the US courts can get some sense knocked into them and have a look at the same prior art.