Apple Suing Samsung Over Patent Infringement

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is suing Samsung over patent infringement. Apple alleges that the Samsung Galaxy phone and tablets are in violation of Apple’s patents, trademarks, and is unfair competition. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Northern California. Apple wants injunctions, actual damages, and punitive damages.

“It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” stated an Apple representative in an interview with AllThingsD. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

Samsung does not plan on settling this out of court. What makes this case interesting is that Samsung is a major supplier of Apple components, meaning the two companies depend heavily on each other while remaining rivals.

Apple is specifically citing a patent that covers the physical design of the iPhone and app icon trademarks. “Samsung’s Galaxy Tab computer tablet also slavishly copies a combination of several elements of the Apple Product Configuration Trade Dress,” stated Apple. This means that Apple is saying that Samsung’s tablet has the same rectangular black design with rounded corners as the iPad.

Below are a couple of pictures that Apple included in their lawsuit:

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