Legal battles between Apple and Samsung have been heating up since almost a year and things have turned against Samsung in a few cases. However, a UK judge ruled in favor of the Samsung Galaxy Tab over Apple’s iPad but the news will not be good for the Tab’s design team. The reason for ruling in favor of Samsung, according to the judge was that the Galaxy Tab was not as cool as the iPad and lacked the simple yet elegant design that characterizes the iPad.
The judge ruled in favor of Samsung after stating that the iPad’s design is quite striking and the minimalistic nature makes all the difference. He went on to call the design cool and that it was a product that the “informed user” is likely to buy given its smooth finish and simple trims. While the judge said the iPad is arguably superior in terms of design than the Galaxy Tab, the main reason for ruling in favor of Samsung appears to be because he thinks that the devices complement each other and do not copy and compete against one another. He went on to say that both the tablets are part of the same family.
The judge said that the design of the iPad was similar to older devices such as the ones developed by Flatron, Bloomberg 1 and 2, Ozolins among others and while they are not identical, they are clearly similar, especially from the front as the iPad and Galaxy Tab look like long lost brothers. Referring to Samsung’s devices, the judge said that they look similar to the iPad from the front but lack the details on the back which makes them quite different. Moreover, they are also thinner.
As is obvious, Apple is not in favor of the ruling and claims that Samsung deliberately copied its designs of the iPhone and the iPad. Apple made a statement saying that copying to such a level is wrong and that the intellectual property of the company needs to be safeguarded. On the other hand, Samsung is least impressed with the legal battles and claims that they do nothing but hamper innovation and hinder development. The company claims that the end result of this will be that the choice for the consumers will be limited. This UK filing was among Apple’s many legal cases to stop Samsung devices from selling in various parts of the world. Apple has been successful in Germany and the Netherlands in their lawsuits against Samsung.
