Apple has struck an important blow in their ongoing litigation with Samsung. They have succeeded in suppressing Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the American market, while the court looks into Apple’s allegations that the Galaxy Tab (amongst other devices) infringes upon several of Apple’s patents. Though the ban is not permanent, it is set to remain in place until Samsung can conclusively prove that the Tab 10.1 is an original product, or if they manage to win an appeal. If they don’t, its bad news for Samsung – the trial isn’t even set to begin until the 30th of July, and could easily drag on for several months.
This is just the latest imbroglio in Apple’s crusade against Samsung (and, indeed, Android Smartphones as a whole). Following Steve Job’s famous pledge to “go thermonuclear” on Android devices – which he claimed massively infringed upon Apple’s intellectual copyright – Apple have launched attack after attack on companies ranging from Google to Motorola. But some of their most famous clashes have been with Samsung, and for good reason, as the South Korean conglomerate is currently their biggest rival in the Smartphone market: together, Apple and Samsung account for over 50% of Smartphone sales, and over 90% of Smartphone profits.
However, the importance of banning sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is largely symbolic. The newer iteration of the device – the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 – is still on the marketplace; in fact, the Tab 2 was created specifically in order to circumvent a similar ban faced by the original Tab in the German marketplace. The scope of Apple’s design patent is fairly narrow, meaning by differentiating the Tab 2 just enough from the iPad, Samsung barely had to alter the specifications of the new device. So the banning of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 amounts largely to petulance on behalf of Apple; the real battle to retain Samsung’s Smartphone supremacy begins on July 30th.
This is just the latest imbroglio in Apple’s crusade against Samsung (and, indeed, Android Smartphones as a whole). Following Steve Job’s famous pledge to “go thermonuclear” on Android devices – which he claimed massively infringed upon Apple’s intellectual copyright – Apple have launched attack after attack on companies ranging from Google to Motorola. But some of their most famous clashes have been with Samsung, and for good reason, as the South Korean conglomerate is currently their biggest rival in the Smartphone market: together, Apple and Samsung account for over 50% of Smartphone sales, and over 90% of Smartphone profits.
However, the importance of banning sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is largely symbolic. The newer iteration of the device – the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 – is still on the marketplace; in fact, the Tab 2 was created specifically in order to circumvent a similar ban faced by the original Tab in the German marketplace. The scope of Apple’s design patent is fairly narrow, meaning by differentiating the Tab 2 just enough from the iPad, Samsung barely had to alter the specifications of the new device. So the banning of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 amounts largely to petulance on behalf of Apple; the real battle to retain Samsung’s Smartphone supremacy begins on July 30th.
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