Apple sues Samsung, claims it copied iPhone, iPad designs

NEW DELHI: In one of biggest copyright cases in recent times, Apple has filed a case against Samsung in a US court, claiming the Korean giant infringed on its patents through Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab.
According to reports, Apple says that both Galaxy S, a smartphone released in June 2010, and Galaxy Tab, a tablet that too was launched last year, copies "the look and feel" of its products.
"Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smartphone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple's technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products," the lawsuit reportedly states.
Reports say that Apple is seeking injunctions, actual damages and punitive damages. The company also wants court to rule out that the alleged infringement was willful.
Both Apple and Samsung are competitors in the rapidly growing smartphone and tablet market. While Apple is considered the leader, Samsung has made impressive gains in the last two years, becoming one of the largest manufacturers of Android devices.
Galaxy S, launched by the Korean giant last year, became a breakthrough smartphone. It was widely considered to be the first Android handset that could stand its own ground against wildly-popular iPhone.
While Apple had traditionally held advantage in re-inventing the wheel and has broken new ground with its innovative products, Samsung’s advantage is in manufacturing. This was put to good use by the company recently when caught off guard by the innovative design of Apple’s iPad 2 in January, its engineers went back to the drawing board came out with a new design for next version of Galaxy Tabs.
Samsung announced the new Tabs in March, claiming they were the lightest and thinnest tablets in the world. It will be interesting to see Samsung’s reply to the lawsuit as the company is also a major supplier for Apple. A4 and A5 processors that power iPhone 4 and iPad2, respectively, are manufactured by Samsung.
The Korean company is also a major manufacturer of flash memory. According iFixit, a firm that often analyses internal components of Apple products when they launch, both iPhone and iPad use flash memory chips made by Samsung. Recently, it was reported that Apple has started using Solid State Drives manufactured by Samsung in its MacBook Air laptops.
Apple in the last few years has also sued HTC, another company making Android phones, and Nokia for copyright infringement.