Apple Adds More Samsung Products to its Infringement Complaint

Earlier this week Apple added more Samsung products to its patent infringement complaint against the company. Apple believes that Samsung is copying the iPhone and iPad and has been “even bolder” in doing so over its competitors. The company recently responded to Samsung’s request to see iPhone 5 / 4S and iPad 3 and said that it was “harassing” them. Now, the Cupertino based company has amended its filing and added several other products which it believes violate trade dress and infringe its patents.

FOSS Patents were quick to spot the changes and noted:

The original complaint specifically accused the following products of infringement: “the Samsung Captivate, Continuum, Vibrant, Galaxy S 4G, Epic 4G, Indulge, Mesmerize, Showcase, Fascinate, Nexus S, Gem, Transform, Intercept, and Acclaim smart phones and the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet.”

The amended complaint accuses all of the above plus the Droid Charge, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S (i9000), Gravity, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, Sidekick, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy S II (aka Galaxy S 2). It also specifies the accusation against “Showcase” products, naming the Showcase i500 and Showcase Galaxy S.

It’s interesting to note that the amended filing uses aggressive language and alleges that Samsung “has been even bolder” with “products that blatantly imitate the appearance of Apple’s products to capitalize on Apple’s success”. Apple in its filing repeatedly mentions that when iPhone was introduced it offered unique features which no other company offered.

Prior mobile phones were often bulkier and contained physical keypads. Some had a rocker-style navigation button and sets of buttons for numbers and calling features. Others had a front panel with a partial or full QWERTY keyboard and a screen. None had the clean lines of the iPhone, which immediately caused it to stand apart from the competition.

Samsung has been equally aggressive in fighting back and the chief of mobile division at Samsung, J.K. Shin said:

We have used many similar designs over the past years and it [Apple’s allegation] will not be legally problematic.

This legal battle might just get bigger and we’ll just have to wait to see if the companies reach a settlement or continue to fight.

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