Hasta La Gadget!

As the battle between Samsung and Apple closed out another week in US District Court, lawyers for the latter focused its argument on evidence and testimony covering a presentation Apple made to Samsung in 2010, and its offer to license the patents. AllThingsD has the deck of slides from the meeting (embedded after the break), specifying areas and specific patents Apple believes Android as an OS infringes or things Samsung specifically copied elements from, plus a report on testimony from Apple executive Boris Teksler. He testified today about the meeting with Samsung, calling it a “trusted partner” (should be, since Apple paid it paid $5.7 billion for parts that year) that both Tim Cook and Steve Jobs spoke to directly about the issue.

While more information is expected from Teksler next week, he did have time to put a dollar amount on the licensing deal Apple subsequently offered, at about $30 per smartphone and $40 per tablet, as well as royalties also collected from phones running Symbian and Bada, with the possibility of a 20 percent discount if Samsung would cross license its own technology back to Apple. The companies are restricted by Judge Koh to 25 hours each to argue their points (Apple is at 11 and a half hours while Samsung has crossed over 12 with its own arguments yet to come) but we’re sure there’s enough time left for a few more revelations before any resolution is reached.

Continue reading Apple details 2010 presentation to Samsung on Android patent infringement, licensing offer

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Apple details 2010 presentation to Samsung on Android patent infringement, licensing offer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 23:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday, in one of the biggest tech trials to hit U.S. soil, Apple called longtime Apple employee and designer Christopher Stringer to the stand as its first witness. Testifying that Samsung “ripped them off,” Stringer showed off dozens of images depicting various iPhone and iPad prototypes that were developed by Apple. There are over 60 images, some of which we’ve seen before, and some of which are brand new.

In one iPhone prototype, Apple included a thin little shelf at the bottom that’s just the opposite of the Droid line’s chin. There are also models that look incredibly similar to the Lumia line, with flat tops and bottoms and rounded sides, as well as prototypes that have flat sides and rounded tops and bottoms. There’s even a model shaped like an elongated octagon.

Clearly, the iPhone was a risky move for Apple, and according to Stringer’s testimony, even Steve Jobs had doubts. This explains why the company went through so many different design iterations from 2003 until 2007, to make sure the revolutionary mobile phone would be “something that people can love.”

You’ll also see various iPad prototypes, including ones with ridges along the edges of its backside to help with grip and others with sharpened corners.

In any case, the trial is set to continue at 9:00AM PST, so we’ll keep you up to date as things progress. In the meantime, get a little insight into Apple’s design process below:

Click to view slideshow.

[via The Verge]

Today the first shots were fired in the high-profile U.S. patent war between Apple and Samsung, beginning with Apple’s opening statements.

And no punch was pulled — Apple’s lawyer made a few hard-hitting claims in the courtroom, providing documents that show Samsung thought the iPhone was “easy to copy.” Harold McElhinny (Apple’s lawyer) also showed documents prepared by a Samsung executive that claim that the company was in a “crisis of design” because of the iPhone.

The presentation also included images of Samsung’s design evolution between pre-iPhone time and now.

But despite the evidence, McElhinny’s most crushing blow may have come in the form of a simple and well-known tech adage: “As we all know, it is easier to copy than to innovate. Apple had already taken the risks.”

However, just saying the hardware is easily copied isn’t proof of copying it, which is why McElhinny returned to evidence introduced in pre-trial, depicting Samsung’s phones before 2007 and their phones after the iPhone’s debut.

Take a look:

According to McElhinny’s argument in court (via Reuters), the main question the court would have to answer was how Samsung went from the phones on the left to the phones on the right.

Apple argues that 22.7 million devices sold by Samsung are in violation of patent infringement, and that the company is seeking up to $2.525 billion in damages. Samsung will follow up in its opening statement later this afternoon.

How big is $2.525 billion when you’re Apple? It won’t affect living standards in Cupertino, that’s for sure, but it’s evidently enough to be worth hauling a rival through the US courts. The figure is revealed in Apple’s damages claim, submitted in the run-up to its battle with Samsung in California, and is quite separate to other claims in Europe and Australia. If you’re not already sick and tired of this feud, then the sums behind that big amorphous total make for curious reading.

According to a unit cost breakdown by Foss Patents, Apple wants $2.02 for every previously sold Samsung product that uses “overscroll bounce,” another $2.02 for those that allow “tap to zoom and navigate,” $3.10 for those that involve a “scrolling API,” plus a mega $24 for each and every device that breaks an Apple design patent or trade dress right. That means the bulk of Apple’s claim — as much as $2 billion — is actually for aesthetic rather than technical infringements. Of course, these figures have no bearing on what the US court may eventually decide to award to either party, and neither do they factor in any strategic value of the blood from Samsung’s nose, or the negative PR that can only grow amid such litigious behavior.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Apple demands $2.02, plus $3.10… equals a total of $2.5 billion in Samsung damages originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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