Mikey Campbell
Sections of the 132-page document titled "Relative Evaluation Report on S1, iPhone" were shown during Friday's proceedings as an argument that Samsung willfully copied Apple's design patents, but the entire document wasn't admitted into evidence until Tuesday.
As reported by All Things D, the internal Samsung report was authored in 2010 by the company's engineering team which meticulously compares and contrasts the usability and design of the Galaxy S against the iPhone. Many of the results seem to be in favor of the iPhone's design implementation as Samsung's engineers offer solutions to make the Galaxy S UI operate more along the lines of iOS.
The methodical report first compares the two handsets, points out the differences and offers "Directions for improvement" which sometimes take the form of Apple's already-instituted solution. Everything from home screen icons to phone apps were studied, bringing comments ranging from fixing screen overlapping to filling empty spaces with a "loading" sign as seen in the soon-to-be defunct iOS YouTube app.
Source: Apple v. Samsung court documents
While the document itself is not a silver bullet for Apple, it does illustrate that Samsung was well aware of the iPhone's design assets and was actively comparing its own products to the handset. This does not prove that willful infringement took place, however it does at least offer a look into Samsung's operating mindset.
The Cupertino company must still prove that Samsung infringed on its asserted design patents and Tuesday's document, while powerful, is unlikely to seal the case on its own.
Thomas Sibilly
Andrew Orr
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118 Comments
1) For a company so adept at copying it's ironic that they can't get the brand name spelling right. 2) @ jrargosta, Remember that conversation we had about the previous comparative document? I don't have the same view on this one. I'd say it's ambiguous, at best, what was the author's slant because he did mention the usability aspect of the End Call button but there certainly seems to be some "follow the leader" going on here instead of thinking for one's self that I think will hard for a jury to ignore.
If only Samsung were better at "Hidung"...
Of course! This is the most obvious way in which you can make improvements to your product - By comparing it to a successful competitors' Product, what's new in it guys, GROW UP!
Okay apart from the sarcasm, this document is..... well, unbelievable. But I'm pretty sure Samsungs' counsel will find a way to justify this too.
Wow, I didn't think it was THAT bad. Samsung, you truly did copy Apple. I don't know how you are going to get past this one
I love how they are pretending to try... "Move loading to the middle of the LCD" like the iPhone. "Make the call end button large with nothing around it" just like the iPhone. When going through the slides I was waiting for "Just copy the iPhone and get it over with".