1. oz_insatiable's Avatar
    Just to clarify at the start, i'm not a legal expert and am only going by reports in the media on the Apple vs Samsung case, so maybe someone can clear this up with a simple answer...

    In the A vs S case which Apple have now won, one of the design patents Apple won on was the physical look of the phone, specifically a rectangle with rounded corners.

    All the BB10 alpha devices are exactly that...the 'near completed' BB10 phones Heins showed off a couple of weeks ago have been compared to the rumoured iPhone 5 design. Since a court has found in favour of Apple over this design, does this impact on BB10? Will it fall under this design description? And if so, what does it mean for BB10? Back to the drawing board? Or is the BB10 design deemed different enough not to infringe on this design patent?
    08-26-12 11:09 AM
  2. hootyhoo's Avatar
    It was more than the rectangle with rounded corners.

    It was that and the borders, the single home button, the shape of the speaker, the icon layout and the look of the icons.

    The whole rectangle thing is taken out of context in most things that are read and reported.
    08-26-12 11:15 AM
  3. GTiLeo's Avatar
    yes they are but its nor boxy then the look of the iphone it has tighter more pointy curves in the corners not a large swoop liek the iphone has, it also has no buttons and on top of that its free so they can't sue for royalies on a device that makes no money and is simply just a alpha tester for devs to build apps
    BB_Bmore likes this.
    08-26-12 11:16 AM
  4. Lendo's Avatar
    I guess that would depend on whether or not RIM has permission to use any of the patents involved. Samsung did not.
    08-26-12 11:23 AM
  5. BB_Bmore's Avatar
    Apples 2012-2013 Slogan..."Dont make us sue that azz"
    bitek and bb624 like this.
    08-26-12 11:23 AM
  6. hootyhoo's Avatar
    Most mobile phones are rectangles with rounded corners. I hate to defend Apple here, but their patent attempts to describe their product so that others will not copy it. In that description it only makes sense that they would begin by describing the shape of the phone. They then detail the look (borders, bezels, speaker placement, etc).
    08-26-12 11:24 AM
  7. oz_insatiable's Avatar
    Most mobile phones are rectangles with rounded corners.
    That was my thought, it just seemed too general to be given purely to Apple as a design look! Thanks for clarifying on the mis-media representation of the story....so just to clarify, its not just the shape of the phone, but the combination of the shape, home button, speaker position etc all under the one umbrella?
    08-26-12 11:37 AM
  8. dbmalloy's Avatar
    To uphold or file a patent or copyright.... you must submit an idea or concept that is unique to your product and not exisisting already... the curve in edges of devices go way back to the first motorola phones ( i owned one ) do thus the concept cannot be patented as it is already in use by many companies... It is sort of like when Donald Trump tried to copyright "Your Fired".. cannot be done... what sunk Samsung is the hardware layout...
    08-26-12 11:44 AM
  9. hootyhoo's Avatar
    That was my thought, it just seemed too general to be given purely to Apple as a design look! Thanks for clarifying on the mis-media representation of the story....so just to clarify, its not just the shape of the phone, but the combination of the shape, home button, speaker position etc all under the one umbrella?
    Yes. The rectangle is just part of the general description of the look of the phone.
    08-26-12 11:44 AM
  10. Lendo's Avatar
    Most of the patents involved are software related I think.

    Apple v. Samsung: The infringing device scorecard | Apple - CNET News
    08-26-12 11:45 AM
  11. crackedup77's Avatar
    What catches my eye is the descriptions for the 915 and the 381 patents on that list.

    By those definitions, isn't that how almost every touch screen works? I mean, pinch to zoom? Dragging? Twist to rotate? Distinguishing between a single-touch scroll operation and a multi-touch pinch-to-zoom operation?

    Aren't these the basics of how every touch screen works? Am I wrong but doesn't even the Playbook have the little "bounce back" in the home screen when you slide over "pages" of icons?

    Correct me if I'm wrong but I read that and think, everything but the iPhone is in violation.
    08-27-12 11:29 AM
  12. hootyhoo's Avatar
    What catches my eye is the descriptions for the 915 and the 381 patents on that list.

    By those definitions, isn't that how almost every touch screen works? I mean, pinch to zoom? Dragging? Twist to rotate? Distinguishing between a single-touch scroll operation and a multi-touch pinch-to-zoom operation?

    Aren't these the basics of how every touch screen works? Am I wrong but doesn't even the Playbook have the little "bounce back" in the home screen when you slide over "pages" of icons?

    Correct me if I'm wrong but I read that and think, everything but the iPhone is in violation.
    It is possible that these other manufacturers have a licensing agreement in place to use these features.
    08-27-12 11:37 AM
  13. bitek's Avatar
    some patents whould never be awarded. second I am surprised that samsung did not try to have this trial held somewhere else but California .... literally minutes from Apple headquarters. I do not believe that the jury was impartial in their decision.

    Sent from my BlackBerry Playbook using Tapatalk 2
    08-27-12 12:06 PM
  14. sam_b77's Avatar
    It is possible that these other manufacturers have a licensing agreement in place to use these features.
    Can you quote some sources confirming that? I haven't come across any. And why would Apple license pinch to zoom if they had some sort of a unique patent on it? It would be far more critical to retain pinch to zoom as an exclusive feature than rounded corners?
    08-27-12 03:59 PM
  15. TheScionicMan's Avatar
    I've always thought of the BB10 Dev Alpha as an oval with straight sides...

    Harborcoat likes this.
    08-27-12 04:10 PM
  16. jmb12177's Avatar
    Look at apples track record, they only sue who is doing better than they are, remember when they were suing HTC, but now Samsung is the one doing the best, so they are suing them. They won't try to sue RIM unless they are back on top, then watch out. You want to talk about stupid patents, apple has the patent now for the general shape of a laptop, the applied for that patent when intel started to advertise the ultra books, so they must be expecting them to do well. And they just got this patent this year, so what happens to all the laptop and notebooks already out there. How dumb is that.



    Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk
    08-27-12 04:20 PM
  17. blackberry_lover_forever's Avatar
    I agree with ootyhoo on this one. Like many of us, I first thought Apple was ridiculous to sue Samsung for the rectangular shape and rounded corners of their devices but after a good read of Imore's editorial from Rene Ritchie, which was illustrating his point with a lot of pictures, showing years after years the way Samsung took "inspiration" from blackberry and Iphone designs, I change my mind. One of those handset was so close to the original Iphone it was barely impossible to distinguish phones at the first glance ! Now, like the OP, I am not lawyer, a judge or even an expert in this field. A billion sounds like too much for me, but in the same time, I have no idea how much money samsung made with those stolen ideas. Good point is latest samsung's devices clearly stand away from competitors and if Apple just sue them to intimidate other smartphone's makers, I'm really worrying for their future... Enough said, IMO...
    08-27-12 06:27 PM
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