Apple vs Samsung – SmartPhone Patent War – Are they really Innovative ?

As Samsung becomes the World’s leading SmartPhone company with 30% market-share, Apple claims that Samsung infringed its patents on design, user interface, and other utilities, while Samsung is claiming Apple’s patents are invalid given similar technologies and designs were already in place prior to Apple’s and that Apple has infringed Samsung’s standard communication patents and other utility patents.

• Apple which has lot the market heavily outside the United States to Samsung claims that a variety of design patents and the user interface have been infringed – Samsung counters that claim by saying Apple, too, has copied the design originally devised by Sony. To re-counter this, Apple claims that it initiated a design-related project (which it dubbed ‘Purple project’) in 2005, ahead of Sony. The Judge Lucy Koh admitted Apple submit the picture of Fidler’s tablet made in 1994, with which Apple intends to prove that its design patent has been valid
  since then.
• Apple disputes the layout of icons that are round-shaped-rectangle and sits by four in a row. Samsung defends icons are devised by Google [Android Inventor], not Samsung. Also, such a layout had already been introduced in Microsoft’s Windows Mobile in 2004.
• Apple takes credit for the round-shaped edge of the tablet – Samsung has previously made other handheld devices with round-shaped edge. Jeez! this one is a bummer.
• Apple’s Home Button – Samsung’s devices have three buttons. Also, Samsung had developed similar designs even before Apple’s iPhone.
• Apple’s Photo flicking and A bounce-back feature that signs the user has reached to the end of a picture or an article – Samsung’s defense is that it is already used in other gadget – Diamond touch tablet.
• Samsung Claims that Apple has violated the following patents – Data transfer division, Power management, turbo encoding, Mailing a picture immediately after the picture is taken, Transfer the user from the photo gallery directly to the photo-taking
  function and Apple in its defense says Samsung is unfairly charging higher licensing fees

In our opinion, Asians largely believe that Network, Communications, Power, Energy etc related inventions are real innovations that is where most of Samsung’s patents are. While the Americas believe in presentation and interaction design which is easy to replicate and that is what Samsung and other Chinese companies are doing and will never agree to the fact like “Round” Tablet instead of Classical “Rectangle” is a patent violation. The litigation may end up with both parties entering a cross-licensing agreement, which would enable them to build a higher patent wall in the smartphone market. So you readers decide which features are the most difficult ones to invent and use here and call them innovators 🙂