Apple VS. Samsung – Apple Inc. sues rival Samsung Electronics for ‘copying’ ‎

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Apple Inc sued rival Samsung Electronics claiming that the South Korean firm’s Samsung’s Galaxy product line of mobile phones and tablet copies the iPhone and iPad, according to court papers. ‘This kind of blatant copying is wrong,’ Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement.Samsung is one of the fastest growing smartphone makers and has also emerged as Apple’s strongest competitor in the booming tablet market with models in three sizes, although it remains a far behind Apple. John Jackson, an analyst with CCS Insight, said Samsung is essentially Apple’s only real tablet competitor at this stage and went on ‘It’s clear that they do not intend to let Apple run away with the category,’ Jackson said.

Samsung’s Galaxy products use Google Inc’s Android operating system, which directly competes with Apple’s mobile software, the lawsuit said. However, Apple’s claims against Samsung focus on Galaxy’s design features, such as the look of its screen icons. The customized software that runs on those Samsung devices over top of Android is TouchWiz,  and some have joked in the past that some TouchWiz aesthetics bear a striking resemblance to Apple’s iOS.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleges Samsung violated Apple’s patents and trademarks. ‘This kind of blatant copying is wrong,’ Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement.
Samsung said in a statement on Tuesday that it would respond to the legal action ‘through appropriate legal measures to protect our intellectual property.’  ‘Samsung’s development of core technologies and strengthening our intellectual property portfolio are keys to our continued success,’ it said.

Interesting to know is, Apple brought in around 6.2 trillion won ($5.7 billion) of sales to Samsung in 2010 mainly by purchasing semiconductors, according to Samsung’s annual report.