Trial expert testifies 38% of consumers confused Samsung design for Apple products

Kent Van Liere, a survey research expert called as a witness by Apple, testified that in two studies comparing smartphones and tablets, there was significant user confusion between the products Samsung developed and Apple's iPhone and iPad, according to trial report by Josh Lowensohn for CNET.

Van Liere said that 38 percent of respondents associated pictures of Samsung's Galaxy Fascinate (pictured below) with Apple's original designs, while 37 percent confused the Galaxy SII Epic 4G.

In a study of tablets which presented users with videos of both Samsung-branded and unbranded versions of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, 6 percent said the branded version could be confused with Apple, while 19 percent said the same of the model with no branding.

Samsung's attorneys challenged the studies, arguing that they did not ask if respondents would actually purchase the devices, did not put the devices into the hands of users, and did not also compare similar tablet devices from LG or Motorola.