New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

Apple Granted Access to Unreleased Samsung Hardware in Patent Suit

Tuesday May 24, 2011 12:15 pm PDT by Eric Slivka

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9

Last month, Apple filed suit against Samsung, claiming patent and trademark infringement from Samsung having allegedly copied Apple's "technology, user interface and innovative style" in its Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets.

Courthouse News Service now reports that a federal judge has given Samsung 30 days in which to provide Apple with samples of a number of unreleased hardware models in order to assist Apple with determining whether it would like to request an early injunction to halt the claimed infringement.
Samsung Electronics was told Wednesday to fork over five of its not-yet-released mobile phones to Apple. Sitting in Federal Court in San Jose, Judge Lucy Koh ruled that Apple deserves the quick production of cell phone samples three months earlier than usual in the litigation process, though she drew the line at requiring testimony from Samsung executives.

"Apple has demonstrated good cause for some, limited expedited discovery," said Koh. "While Apple has not yet filed a motion for preliminary injunction, courts have found that expedited discovery may be justified to allow a plaintiff to determine whether to seek an early injunction," said Koh.
The Samsung models in question include the Galaxy S2, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G, and Droid Charge.

While the models have yet to be officially released to the public and Samsung has argued that examination of production samples that may not necessarily reflect final shipping versions is inappropriate, Koh noted that the argument is undermined by Samsung's publicity efforts that have seen images and even demo units handed out to members of the media. In one noteworthy example, 5,000 Galaxy Tab 10.1s were given away to attendees at the Google I/O conference earlier this month.

[ 289 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
Aduntu
101 months ago

Oh, Steve. You bully customers, you bully poorly paid Foxconn employees, you bully your vendors, and you bully your competitors.


What's the point in working hard to innovate if you're just going to let others blatantly copy your work without repercussion?
Rating: 22 Votes
Avatar
sciwizam
101 months ago
Also, while it might not be relevant to this case, I wonder how Apple would react if the situation is reversed and they had to provide access to their unreleased hardware.
Rating: 22 Votes
Avatar
BC2009
101 months ago

When you can no longer innovate....litigate.


I think the fact that Samsung is trying to copy Apple at every turn points to the fact that Samsung is the one who is failing to innovate. Many great gadget designs have come from HP and Motorola and great UI designs as well from the likes of Microsoft, Motorola and HTC. The fact that Samsung is copying Apple's design is sad.
Rating: 19 Votes
Avatar
*LTD*
101 months ago
Lol at everyone crying about bullies. If you were in Apple's position you'd do the exact same thing. And if you didn't, your shareholders would hang you.
Rating: 17 Votes
Avatar
NebulaClash
101 months ago
Once again people are picking sides based on personal likes or dislikes about products and companies. Sorry, but this is being decided by laws. Apple has a legal obligation to protect its intellectual property or else they lose it. The courts have to decide on the basis what the law says, not which phone the judge likes. Apple won this preliminary step because the law said they should. It is only a small step of a much larger legal picture. The judge just felt Apple's legal argument carried weight.

Now go back to your cheerleading one side or the other based on everything but the law.
Rating: 16 Votes
Avatar
ciTiger
101 months ago
Sammy can't be happy lol...
So many people saying Apple had nothing... Well it turns out it may have something yet...
Rating: 13 Votes
Avatar
JAT
101 months ago
Really? That just seems....unfair.
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
BC2009
101 months ago
Seems right to me -- Samsung should have tried to be a bit more original in their hardware and UI designs. Nobody would mistake a Motorola device for an Apple device -- Samsung has tried too hard to make their stuff look exactly like Apple's stuff. Since Apple clearly does NOT have a monopoly on cool gadget designs the only reason I can think that Samsung would do this is to try to make their stuff look as much like Apple's as possible so they can fool some customers into thinking Samsung devices are just a different kind of iPhone or iPad.
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
whooleytoo
101 months ago
That seems strangely generous to Apple - offering them access to unreleased Samsung products in case they might, maybe, infringe on Apple's patents/trademarks. That seems a little 'guilty until proven innocent' to me.

You can't really imagine anyone ordering Apple to hand over any of their unreleased products. In fact, one side-effect of this ruling might be that Apple may get even more obsessive about future product secrecy, thus giving competitors a potential chance to file for a preliminary injunction.
Rating: 9 Votes
Avatar
dba7dba
101 months ago

I think the fact that Samsung is trying to copy Apple at every turn points to the fact that Samsung is the one who is failing to innovate. Many great gadget designs have come from HP and Motorola and great UI designs as well from the likes of Microsoft, Motorola and HTC. The fact that Samsung is copying Apple's design is sad.


I think people can agree innovate = patents. Some may object to the patents given out but still.

Top-50 US Patent Recipients from 2009
http://www.ificlaims.com/IFI%202009%20patents%20011210%20final.htm

1 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP 4914
2 SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD KR 3611
...
46 SAMSUNG SDI CO LTD KR 423


That's right Apple not on the list. I think Apple broke into top 50 in 2010 list though.
Rating: 9 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]