Samsung Galaxy Nexus banned in the United States

Link to the story is here

Personally, I think this is deplorable. Also, didn't we already have a similar trial like this with Microsoft v Apple many years ago? I seem to remember it being determined that you can't patent the look/feel of something, just the code... (I don't think it's directly mentioned in the article, but the issue is that the Nexus uses 'swipe to unlock.')

Regardless, as an Apple owner all I can say is that I have a really tough time supporting Apple on this and it has sullied the image of the whole company for me =/ Strong-arming competition rather than innovating is no way to make any customers feel good.

What are your guys' feelings on all of this?

......I was just about to buy one....so I guess I'll buy an iPhone 4S?

Wait, what does the Woz want me to do?

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet accused Samsung of copying the look and feel of its products.

lolwhut? Apple is such a disgusting company.

LAND OF THE FREE

Apple are twats

Innovation !

oh hey, people are now just starting to realize what a shitty company Apple is.

I wonder if they'll realize how Orwellian their general philosophy is next.

Isn't this how patents work any way?

Big company registers all the patents it can regardless of how retarded they are and then they are only ever overturned for being retarded if the patent owner complains about patent violation.

If the patent office were interested in doing any actual work (probably way off base I'm sure the patent office employees work very hard) we wouldn't have these overblown by the media trial thingies.

I'm sure that this is anti competitive in some way anyway.

Fuck Apple! I will never buy their over priced over rated products.

oh hey, people are now just starting to realize what a shitty company Apple is.

I wonder if they'll realize how Orwellian their general philosophy is next.

I feel like I'm missing something really big because I do not get this ruling at all. Are they really...Siri-ous here? Okay sorry, had to get that out of the way. The voice search feature on the Nexus is so un-Siri compared to what is coming in Jelly Bean. And as far as look/feel, the only people I've ever had ask me if my Nexus was an iPhone were people who had no clue that there are smartphones other than the iPhone. Not cool Apple, not cool.

The galaxy nexus runs stock android, so the ban should affect all android phones, Apple is clearly targeting Samsung.

The slide to unlock on android is nothing like the iPhone so I have no idea what apple is getting at other than being dicks.

The mobile phone market is really tumultuous right now because of patent concerns. Companies are buying up other companies for the patents that they hold. The makers of the Blackberry, Research in Motion (RIM), were hobbled by patent infringement lawsuits and now other companies are looking to buy RIM's patents to steel themselves against other patent lawsuits. It is important to protect the ideas of an individual through a patent, but the purchasing of patents for protection from patent litigation has definitely gotten out of hand.

That's business. If it were Samsung and Apple did it, then they would do exactly the same thing. I am not surprised by the Apple hate as it is just like the Nintendo hate - odd.

Apple are cunts, they've been doing this to Samsung all over the world.

"Copying the look and feel" -________________- Really?

Completely relevant to the hypocrisy of Apple. Back then they were the little guy trying to make a name for themselves and fighting against the big bad demon known as Microsoft. Now they are the big bad demon, and arguably worse than Microsoft with how they tie everything off and restrict the fuck out of their software and even their overpriced shitty hardware. It's rather ironic really. I understand the point of patents but Apple takes it to an entirely different extreme where the slightest thing is patented by them and cannot ever be used by anyone else otherwise it's infringing and they sue, even if the patent in question has never seen the light of day.

Seeing what they've become is why I will never ever buy another product from that overrated, overpriced, and over-saturated piece of shit company. The last thing I bought is my iPod, and the last thing I'll buy is my iPod.

@Bassman2112: I'm surprised this is even possible in this day and age... I guess monopolies still exist, but you'd think a company that brands itself as being one of the lead innovators in the field would welcome competition to push themselves further.

my friend just got one in canada its a sweet phone. just order one from canada on ebay and you will be fine.

@AiurFlux said:

Completely relevant to the hypocrisy of Apple. Back then they were the little guy trying to make a name for themselves and fighting against the big bad demon known as Microsoft. Now they are the big bad demon, and arguably worse than Microsoft with how they tie everything off and restrict the fuck out of their software and even their overpriced shitty hardware. It's rather ironic really. I understand the point of patents but Apple takes it to an entirely different extreme where the slightest thing is patented by them and cannot ever be used by anyone else otherwise it's infringing and they sue, even if the patent in question has never seen the light of day.

Seeing what they've become is why I will never ever buy another product from that overrated, overpriced, and over-saturated piece of shit company. The last thing I bought is my iPod, and the last thing I'll buy is my iPod.

Apple was alot bigger than Microsoft back then, Microsoft was just doing word/excel and they were a distant second to Wordperfect even in that. IBM was the big bad guy they were rebelling against in that commercial...

The best service is the only service. Good game, Apple.

So you guys realize this is just what big companies do in the tech industry, right? Samsung sues Asus, who sues RIM, who sues Apple, who sues... it's endless. The only difference here is that a judge actually approved a ban, which doesn't happen all that often. This isn't Apple being particularly evil, it's just how the business works.

I remember them doing the same thing with some HTC phone not to long ago too.

This is what companies do, you morons. Apple is no different from any other company.

Do you know how many times Microsoft has sued other companies for 'infringing' on their 'patents'? Many, many times. Just because people love to hate Apple does not make them evil, it just makes those people lonely virgins.

@Cameron: @PrivateIronTFU: It doesn't make it any less shitty just because everyone is doing it. I would be disturbed if people the world over just sat back and accepted terrible things as simply a part of life. Sure, nothing is done about it now, but at least people are vocalising their concerns that things like this shouldn't be allowed to happen, and after all, acknowledgement is always going to be the first step towards improvement, whether it is now or a hundred years from now.

@PrivateIronTFU said:

Do you know how many times Microsoft has sued other companies for 'infringing' on their 'patents'? Many, many times. Just because people love to hate Apple does not make them evil, it just makes those people lonely virgins.

Do you know how many people hate Microsoft? I would say that the main difference is that Microsoft hatred has been normalised. We all know they do shitty things, and the need to express concern for those shitty things are mostly implicit at this stage.

@GunslingerPanda said:

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet accused Samsung of copying the look and feel of its products.

lolwhut? Apple is such a disgusting company.

Yup. That's why I hate Apple. Not because they overcharge for everything, not because they steal ideas and then market them as "new" years later, not because they say theirs is "the best" and everything else sucks...

It's because they have shitty business practices. They don't like competition, so they will sue and do everything they can to be on top, and that isn't cool.

@Jack268 said:

LAND OF THE FREE

*turns on Shinra theme*

@Bassman2112 said:

What are your guys' feelings on all of this?

"UGH!" Those are my feelings on this. And people wonder why I do not buy Apple products.

Another reason why I will never EVER buy an iphone or any other apple product. It's sickening that they could ever get away with bullshit like this.

My brother has that phone.

Wow that sucks for americans, it's an awesome phone. Also it's one of the launch devices for Android 4.1 Jellybean so let's hope it gets resolved soon. Live in Canada and got mine a few months ago, but feel for those in the US.

I agree that it is unfortunate, but Apple does have to protect itself; if they are too lenient with defending their right to their designed it could come back to bite them in the future.

@mandude: You're absolutely right. That's why I said it doesn't make Apple particularly evil, they're just as evil as everyone else. I just thought too many people were shitting on Apple for no good reason since all of their competitors do exactly the same thing. There may be legitimate reasons to hate Apple specifically, but this isn't one of them. If this is a bad business practice, then it's bad when anyone does it. You can't use this as a reason to hate Apple and then turn around and buy a Samsung phone, because Samsung does exactly the thing you hate Apple for doing. To be clear, I don't mean you specifically when I say 'you', I don't think you made any such claim, but it appeared in the thread and I wanted to address it.

Why the fuss? Cadbury 'own' the colour purple (not the movie). You can't make a competitive product in the colour purple (where I live). Copying the look of your competitor shouldn't be allowed, it makes sense. Replicate this in anything popular out there and see what would happen. Samsung should just be origial and they wouldn't have an issue.

I am hoping the Galaxy S III stays untouched in these lawsuits because I'm due for my upgrade in two days. I love my OG EVO, but I can't wait to feel a new phone in my hands. Especially one that won't die after 4 hours.

We need more FREEDOM. America, get on it

Of the Apple, by the Apple, for the Apple...?

Yes yes yes, thankyou everybody. I'm feeling slightly less of my usual "why does everybody love Apple so much when Apple so clearly just wants their money and unswerving loyalty" depression now.

Software patents are the biggest joke in technology, one of the patents the Galaxy Nexus violates is something to do with search functionality.

Yes, that's right, Google are apparently infringing on a search patent. Google.

What makes this really funny is that Apple themselves completely ripped off a few features from Android in iOS 5. Most notably the notification system.

Still love my iPad, Android phone, PC and my Mac though regardless of any nitpicky lawsuits Apple, Google or Microsoft get involved with. Not much point shaking your fists at a single company, go after the joke of a patent system your stupid country has instead, that's the real issue here.

@Contrarian said:

Why the fuss? Cadbury 'own' the colour purple (not the movie). You can't make a competitive product in the colour purple (where I live). Copying the look of your competitor shouldn't be allowed, it makes sense. Replicate this in anything popular out there and see what would happen. Samsung should just be origial and they wouldn't have an issue.

Cadbury don't own purple, they Trade Marked one specific tinge of purple. Get your facts straight. This isn't the same thing at all.

Apple sucks.

I still love my phone though.

I know that I sound like a fanboy but does that not mean apple is somwhat paranoid? after all, saying they copied the technology just like that is a crime by itself. After all it happends all the damm time now'a days.

I don't own one single apple product. Ain't gonna change.

Oh no, one giant corporation is fucking with another giant corporation. We all better not buy stuff we weren't gonna buy anyway and pretend we're doing it for the good of the world!

Classy as fuck. I also remember Microsoft getting to ban some Motorola android phones in the US because of an amazingly specific feature that allowed you to schedule meetings in a calendar. 

@Vegetable_Side_Dish said:

Classy as fuck. I also remember Microsoft getting to ban some Motorola android phones in the US because of an amazingly specific feature that allowed you to schedule meetings in a calendar.

Calendars were just pieces of paper until Microsoft revolutionised the concept. The judges presiding over these things must be so fucking far removed from the real world.

@Bassman2112 said:

Link to the story is here

Personally, I think this is deplorable. Also, didn't we already have a similar trial like this with Microsoft v Apple many years ago? I seem to remember it being determined that you can't patent the look/feel of something, just the code... (I don't think it's directly mentioned in the article, but the issue is that the Nexus uses 'swipe to unlock.')

Regardless, as an Apple owner all I can say is that I have a really tough time supporting Apple on this and it has sullied the image of the whole company for me =/ Strong-arming competition rather than innovating is no way to make any customers feel good.

What are your guys' feelings on all of this?

Well Samsung does this to Apple all the time, so I'm not gonna hold it against them for doing the same. It's pretty standard corporate maneuvering in the tech world. But I hate patent disputes, they're annoying, boring to read, and just plain bad for innovation.

Here's a podcast which goes into some detail about how idiotic modern patents are in case anyone's interested. It's a pretty broken system.

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Contrarian said:

Why the fuss? Cadbury 'own' the colour purple (not the movie). You can't make a competitive product in the colour purple (where I live). Copying the look of your competitor shouldn't be allowed, it makes sense. Replicate this in anything popular out there and see what would happen. Samsung should just be origial and they wouldn't have an issue.

Cadbury don't own purple, they Trade Marked one specific tinge of purple. Get your facts straight. This isn't the same thing at all.

That is just semantics. If a product could reasonably seen as too similar to Cadbury, that being the colour, it is an infringement. How is that different? If I manufactured a car that looked like a Mustang, Ford would sue me. If I manufactured a game system that pretty much mirrored an Xbox, Microsoft would sue me. There is a line where copying the look and feel of your competitor is a breach. I don't see the big deal in that. Companies should be able to protect what they create.

I'm all for innovation in products. It's terrible for Samsung, but if a judge thinks their product is too similar to the patents Apple filed in 2004, it's too similar. Companies taking out patents over their products is nothing new.

And for the people who openly bash Apple, the stigma that their products are overrated and cost way too much doesn't hold much weight for a lot of people. I've found "you get what you pay for" to be remarkably true in my lifetime. I'll pay an extra $200 for an aluminum unibody case because it's not plastic and has time and time again proved to be much more durable than any Windows laptop I've ever owned.