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Topic: Samsung

Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

Summary: The Galaxy Nexus, which runs the latest Android "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system, was designed to avoid future patent litigation, Samsung's mobile chief said.

Zack Whittaker

By for Between the Lines |

Amid the conflicts and legal battles between Apple and Samsung over the alleged infringement of networking and design patents, Samsung has a seemingly lethal weapon up its sleeve, designed to battle head-to-head with the main smartphone rival, the iPhone.

According to Samsung's mobile chief Shin Jong-Kyan, the new Galaxy Nexus, which runs the Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system, was designed to bypass Apple's patents and further legal disputes.

Speaking to the Korean Yonhap News Agency, Jong-Kyan said the day before the Nexus launch: "Now we will avoid everything we can and take patents very seriously", adding that while patents can be difficult to identify, Samsung had "tried to ensure no known patent by Apple" is included in the new smartphone.

Jong-Kyan went on to criticise Apple, saying that the company will not achieve much from its legal action, but that Samsung is "losing the pride in our brand" as a result.

His comments, made on Tuesday, were under embargo until after the launch yesterday.

Apple, on the other hand, remains sceptical, stating on numerous occasions that the Korean smartphone and tablet giant "appropriated its intellectual property".

Apple secured a temporary ban on sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab tablet in Germany and Australia, after the courts said a selection of Samsung's products breached design patents owned by Apple.

Efforts are under way by Apple in the United States to ban a series of Samsung's Galaxy phones and tablets, with a court ruling expected soon. As the U.S. has one of the largest share of tablet and smartphone consumers -- with one in four U.S. users owning a Samsung phone -- the ban would mark a major blow against Samsung's smartphone business worldwide.

But Samsung is fighting back against Apple's claims, by filing motions in France and Italy, and later on Japan and Australia, in a bid to halt the sale of the recently released Apple iPhone 4S. Claiming Apple infringes its networking patents, industry experts and analysts claim that Samsung's legal fightback will be 'futile'.

Related:

Topics: Samsung, Apple, Google, Legal, Mobility

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20 comments
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  • Tiring

    It is getting to the point with these so called "patent infringements" that some agency needs to step forward and toss them all replacing them with a review and fix of the current ludicrous patent process.
    rhonin
    Reply Vote

  • It won't work

    Patents are a joke, Apple will simply re-interpret the patents to cover anything new Samsung does and sue.
    Plus USPTO issued patents for things that exist already (e.g. they issued an episodic web broadcast patent when Webcasts had already existed, and the troll sued Apple based on that). It isn't sufficient to say "we don't infinge current patents" when the USPTO ignores most prior art and all trade secrets as though they don't exist.

    http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/09/21/riddle-me-this-do-patent-trolls-create-wealth-or-d.aspx

    Trolls destroyed $88 in value to collect $7.8 billion in revenue [for inventions they don't make].
    guihombre
    Reply Vote

  • What? thought that was impossible?

    Thought there was no other way to design tablets and phones than the way Apple did? Samsung is a joke! Look at Somy's tablet, look at Acer Iconia tab, look at Motorola's new RAZR... add a curve, a beveled edge, metallic accent here or there to make you device distinctive.. none of this needs to affect thickness (look at MOTOs new phones and Acer icons tabs) or be creative like Sony and make a shape that says scr*w thinness make a shape that feels WAY nicer in hand than iPad..

    finally we are going to get some creativity instead of follow the leader!
    doctorSpoc
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

      @doctorSpoc Well said!
      xpect
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

      @doctorSpoc: So we can't use anything generic or obvious anymore?
      Natanael_L
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

        @Natanael_L I think they like to call it minimalist. You get minimal design, minimal buttons, minimal hardware and then it's just so wonderful you get maximum price.
        mdeans@...
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

    So, Samsung acknowledged that they have copied from iPhone till date??? Get a life copyists
    browser.
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

      @browser.

      No, they acknowledged that Apple will continue to sue them if it could even, at the fringe of reality, have a case made for it.

      And they're right.
      Michael Alan Goff
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

        @Michael Alan Goff No, he specifically said they are taking patents seriously now implying that in the past they didn't. In other words in the past they didn't worry about infringing on somebody else's IP but that has become a legal headache for them so moving forward they will.
        non-biased
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

      @browser. No they didn't, they stated they took special care to make sure that Apple could not find something to sue with. Based on the fact that Apple doctored documents to make it appear that the two items were identical when they weren't. The stupidest part of all this is that the US patent office gave a patent on design, if that was the case for cars we would only be driving Fords. Apple is going to get its comeuppance, because the 4S is the first sign that they really don't have anything new to offer and all they are going to do is repackage the same old, same old. This is what almost bankrupted them in the past and its going to come back and bite them big time this time around.
      Rndmacts
      Reply Vote

      • Yes they did.

        @Rndmacts With this they completely acknowledged that they knew they were violating Apple's patents in the past.
        wackoae
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

        @wackoae: Why?
        You can intentionally choose to change your behaviour when you get complaints no matter how right you are just to get rid of complaints. That's actually common, I bet you can figure out a billion situations like taht yourself.

        What they have acknowledged is that they have previously not payed much attention to what Apple have patented and now will start to actively avoid those things instead.
        Natanael_L
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

        @Nataniel_L

        While that may happen from time to time, it is certainly not the case with Samsung. Samsung have been known, for years (decades) of having the practice to copycat other's products.

        The part ???Now we will avoid everything we can and take patents very seriously??? is especially revealing.
        danbi
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

    Why settle for market dominance based on a superior product if you can sue the competition out of the market? As much as I despise the practice it makes economic sense for Apple. The real culprit are the current patent laws in the U.S. and around the world. Patent litigation lawyers are getting rich and it adds to the cost of the products we're buying.
    PhillyIT
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

      @PhillyIT Why settle for letting somebody steal your IP? The patent system might be broken but it is currently what we have and Apple has every right to protect their IP under current law just as Samsung has every obligation to no violate somebody else's IP under current law. Doesn't matter what you or me or anybody else on here thinks about the current situation of patent law, it's what we have to work with until it is changed.
      non-biased
      Reply Vote

  • Won't work...

    Apple will get their claws on any scrap of cash they can get.
    And if they can't get any and they know it, they will sue anyway to delay and disrupt the launch in typical Apple fashion.
    They're evil.
    Naryan
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

    It's Shin Jong-kyun. The family name is Shin.
    paul@...
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

      @paul@... Yes, please fix this. It's terrible. You wouldn't be saying "Michael announced that Dell is targeting the server market in Q1."

      It should be "Shin said the day before the Nexus launch" and "Shin went on to criticise Apple."
      daengbo
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

    Whenever I hear the words "Apple" and "networking" together in the same sentence, let alone with "patents" thrown in, I remember the router-choking horror that was AppleTalk, and I giggle.
    Zathras10
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Samsung chief: Galaxy Nexus 'designed to bypass Apple patents'

    NT
    AmediaN
    Reply Vote
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