Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned for 'blatantly copying' iPad: SRSLY?

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been granted a ban on Samsung selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet. The judge (pictured) said Samsung was 'competing unfairly' with its 'blatant copying'. The preliminary injunction could be a big blow to Samsung in Apple's home market. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers find out what all the fuss is about.

By Richi Jennings: Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: What to do when an elevator is out of order...
  
  
John Ribeiro reports:

In...the preliminary injunction, Judge Lucy H. Koh...has enjoined Samsung...from importing or selling...any "product that...embodies any design contained in U.S. Design Patent No. D504,889." ... The court...noted that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is "virtually indistinguishable" from Apple's iPad.
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In a December 2, 2011 order, Judge Koh found that...Apple was likely to suffer irreparable harm. ... The Court of Appeals...upheld District Court's findings of infringement and irreparable harm.
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Samsung...intends to appeal.      

       
John Paczkowski calls it Apple's "greatest victory yet":

[M]ake no mistake, it’s a nasty blow to Samsung. ... Koh’s order will become effective as soon as Apple posts a $2.6 million bond to protect Samsung.
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Apple reiterated the same message it has been hammering. ... “It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad. ... This kind of blatant copying is wrong.”
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Meanwhile, Samsung took a shot at Apple. ... “[This] preliminary injunction...[is] based on a single...aspect of the product’s overall design. ... Should Apple continue to make [such] claims...design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted.”      

And Jake Smith clarifies:

When asked to give comment...Judge Koh said Samsung is “competing unfairly” by “flooding the market with infringing products.”
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To be clear, this has been issued for the original Galaxy Tab, not the newer version Samsung just released.      

Oh look! It's the 'IP activist-for-hire' you love to hate, Florian Müller:

Judge Lucy Koh...felt that "any further delay of the injunction is not justified"...it's not entirely impossible that Samsung can raise issues concerning Judge Koh's equitable analysis. ... Samsung simply cannot let this preliminary injunction stand without an appeal.
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The scope of a design patent is relatively narrow (which makes it...embarrassing for Samsung that it infringed one at all)...if it wanted to continue to sell it...it would simply redesign.
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Samsung saw that it was just going to suffer all sorts of disruptions...by continuing to copy Apple's designs.      

Meanwhile, Tom Krazit reminds us how we got here:

For years now, Apple and Samsung have been locked in a dispute over whether or not Samsung’s [devices] infringe on patents held by Apple.
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It had seemed of late that the parties might find some accommodation in the wake of the death of...Steve Jobs, who swore to “destroy” Android, and more conciliatory comments...[from] Tim Cook. But the injunction is a huge victory for Apple.      

But Roger Parloff pours scorn on the whole débâcle:

[It] marks the coming of age of a murky form of intellectual property that many may have never even realized existed: the design patent...[which] covers the way something looks.
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The necessarily subjective test...is simply whether the "overall impression" of the accused product looks "substantially the same"...in the "eyes of an ordinary observer." The design must also [not be] "dictated by" function.
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[The] iPad design patent at issue...consist[s mainly] of sketches...of an object that...looks like an unopened TV dinner. ... Like the proverbial Jackson Pollock painting, your kid could have drawn these. ... Though the U.S. Supreme Court has not heard a design patent case since 1871...it might be time for a fresh look.      

      
And Finally...
Thanks for reminding me what to do when the elevator is out of order 

Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. He's also the main author of Computerworld's The Long View and IT Blogwatch -- for which he has won ASBPE and Neal awards. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, Richi also publishes a full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.