Samsung Wins iPad Design Infringement Case In Dutch Court


The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 did not infringe on the design of the Apple iPad according to a new ruling by a Dutch Supreme Court.

Apple holds a European design patent for the iPad, but the court limited the applicability of the Apple patent to prior art.

If you have been following the Apple design case, you are probably aware that other similar tablets were designed well before the iPad. For example, the Knight Ridder concept, which was designed more than a decade before the Apple iPad, shared a similar design concept.

In its ruling, the court says that ,while the Apple iPad offers its own “unique character,” the Galaxy Tab is “sufficiently different” enough that an informed person can tell the difference.

With the Dutch supreme court ruling against Apple, the company will likely face an uphill battle in getting the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned from import into the Netherlands.

While Apple has managed to win iPhone court cases versus the Samsung Galaxy smartphone series, the tech giant has suffered in terms of proving tablet infringement.

Apple’s claim to the “rounded rectangle” design concept has failed to impress members of the court who have generally called the design factor a basic part of a tablet’s creation.

After receiving good news regarding the Dutch lawsuit, the team at Samsung Netherlands released the following statement:

Apple was not the first tablet designed with a rectangular shape and rounded corners. No company should have a monopoly on general design.”

Perhaps caught off guard by the court’s decision, the team at Apple has not yet released a public statement regarding the Dutch court’s decision.

Do you think the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a direct rip-off of the Apple iPad design?

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