The battle between Apple and Samsung continues as the court is still considering evidence and statements from both sides. In this case, one of iPad prototypes, which made huge waves last month, was not included in the trial as evidence. Now, this is the part where it kind of gets confusing because the prototype iPad have been shown to jurors before.
In a ruling near the end of the court session today, the U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said that, “Samsung could not use the tablet, which cropped up in a pile of new evidence last month, to help show differences in what Apple originally envisioned for its patented tablet design, and what it eventually shipped.”
The design patent, which is known as the ‘889 patent in the case between Apple and Samsung, depicts a device that is rectangular and somewhat similar to the Apple’s iPad. According to Apple, “it has become the look of the iPad 2 and beyond.” However, some of the subtleties of it, like the uni-body back, round corners, bezeled glass were applied to the first generation iPad as well.
In the early court filings, Samsung argued that the differences were more broad, while it pointed towards an early prototype of the iPad, which is dubbed as the 035 model. This model is really thick and looks more like the plastic lid of MacBook laptops.
Regardless of the ruling made by District Judge Koh, today was the second time the 035 iPad prototype was shown to the jurors during this trial. Last week, Samsung’s attorney held it up during the company’s opening statements and today, once again it happened before Apple’s attorneys took offense to its presentation. Apple’s attorneys called it an ambush during the tail end of industrial design expert witness Peter Bressler’s testimony.
If we look at the 035 prototype of the iPad, you will notice that all its sides are and the entire look, looks similar to the modern iPad. It is not uncommon for companies to change their designs before finalizing the device, which is what Apple is referring to with its 035 prototype. The 035 design can easily be cropped to fit the description of modern day iPad. As for the materials used in the 035 prototype, well it was a prototype, so there is a possibility that it was Apple experimenting with different materials and looks in order to determine which materials will offer more durability and add longevity to their device without making it heavy.
The size of the 035 prototype iPad is a questionable thing here, but that can be justified by the Apple attorneys as well and this could have easily gone to add a point to Apple.
The trial will continue tomorrow and a testimony from the early Apple designer Susan Kare is expected tomorrow during the trial. Susan Kare is best known for creating the initial set of icons for the first Mac. The patent battle between the two tech giant continues and we will continue to update you about the proceedings of case and whenever something interesting happens in or outside the court between these two.
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