Following Samsung’s most recent move, the patent war between Samsung and Apple is turning into the legal equivalent of a TV soap, even motivating Tim Cook to mock their Galaxy Tab at the new iPad’s unveiling.
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Yesterday we cited a Dow Jones Newswire report claiming Apple is offering Samsung and Motorola licences to some of the patents at $15 per Android phone sold, in an unorthodox attempt to curtail the onslaught of global litigation the companies are entangled in.
Less than 24 hours later on the day Apple announces a slew of new products, Samsung has pulled a move aimed at defaming Apple, however little so. The petty jab at its rival involves the company widening its current patent litigation against them, motioning that Apple’s iPhone 4S and iPad 2 infringes additional Samsung patents.
The said infringed property pertains to “utility patents” and concerns certain functions of mobile computing devices, including smartphones and tablet PCs. Samsung claim Apple has violated how data is displayed on a smartphone, on a “mobile terminal”, and how it displays short messages on a “mobile communication terminal.”
The lawsuit was filed over night at Seoul Central District Court.
The spat between the two companies began when Apple claimed Samsung copied the design traits of their iPad, “copying the look and feel of its products” as news.com.au reports it.
Read: Apple: $15 For Every Samsung Android Phone Sold, Deal?
More than two dozen court cases are now taking place in nine countries, with the companies’ legal departments playing tit-for-tat.
While on stage, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook made a mockery of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, unfavourably summarising its application rendering.
He used the Twitter app as an example, saying “it kind of looks like a blown-up smartphone app running on a tablet — and that’s exactly what it is!” He then moved on to Yelp, saying: “lots of whitespace, tiny text. It’s kind of hard to see.”
The Galaxy Tab is canon-fodder for what Cook is actually attacking, which is the rivalling Android operating system, as the applications are available for download from Android’s market place.
Techradar correctly note the new iPad’s specifications should speak for themselves, proving Cook’s slanderous comments redundant and border-line juvenile.
Upon being served with the first Australian court case, Samsung was initially cordial with its conduct, choosing to postpone sale of its Galaxy Tab until the preliminary trial was over.
However, Apple’s constant barrage of requests pushed Samsung too far, motivating them to retaliate with a string of commercials mocking Apple customers and the pompous-air surrounding their products.
The commercials depict Apple customers lining up hours on end, at the expense of sick days and the feeling in their legs for a new product that is inferior to their Galaxy S2 smartphone.
Read: Samsung Commercial Attacks Apple’s Jugular
This back-and-fro between the two largest technology companies is not only very public, but beginning to become tedious. Their smear campaigns are proving effective as I’m almost compelled to buy a Sony product instead.
