The tech industry’s version of a soap opera that networks just won’t cancel has been the gift that keeps on giving lately. Samsung (005930) rejected Apple’s settlement offer, Apple (AAPL) rejected Samsung’s settlement offer, Samsung told Apple it wouldn’t have sold a single iPhone without stealing Samsung’s protected technology… it never ends. Now, Apple has bitten back with yet another harsh accusation just days ahead of a new trial set to begin next week.
As WSJ blog AllThingsD reports, court documents recently filed by Apple make some pretty rough accusations, the gist of which is Samsung knew very well that it was ripping off Apple designs when it was building its products but decided to do so anyway. In fact, according to Apple, Google (GOOG) warned Samsung against copying Apple’s designs but the South Korea-based technology giant seemingly didn’t care.
“Samsung’s documents show the similarity of Samsung’s products is no accident or, as Samsung would have it, a ‘natural evolution,’ ” Apple said in a recent court filing. “Rather, it results from Samsung’s deliberate plan to free-ride on the iPhone’s and iPad’s extraordinary success by copying their iconic designs and intuitive user interface. Apple will rely on Samsung’s own documents, which tell an unambiguous story.”
Apple claims to have proof that in February 2010, Google warned Samsung that its Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets were too similar to the iPad, and urged the company to make a better effort to distinguish their designs. AllThingsD also notes that Samsung admitted its Galaxy S looked strikingly similar to older iPhones, according to Apple, and that it had previously been warned of the similarities by multiple famous designers.
