The Apple innovations

They're sleek smart and oh so cool are the Apple gadgets it's no wonder so many imitations have arisen and likewise no wonder Apple are fighting back to protect their patents. As I write this Samsung are unable to show off their Galaxy Tabs in Germany due to a ruling regarding patents. Quite right too - Apple created these and it's only right that they should be the ones to profit from them. But did they?

Take a look at the lawdit reading room for another side to this. I'll summarise it here:


Apple's slide to unlock patent - seen on the Neonode N1m (jump to 4:20) allegedly prior to Apple.
Apple's design rights - seen on the Compaq TC1x00 allegedly prior to Apple.
Apple's iPhone outward appearance  - seen in the LG Prada allegedly prior to Apple.
Apple's grid interface menu - seen in Nokia's 7710 allegedly prior to Apple.

To demonstrate some of the fun that can be had with this the latest salvo from Samsung appears to take the view that they can't be copying Apple because Apple copied someone else. None other than Stanley Kubrik. Yep they're bringing in footage from 2001: A Space Odyssey showing the two astronauts watching news footage on their portable flat screens. Sure they may not be real, but the patents are about design and the design of these obviously exists. Someone had to create them; someone had to give them the shape they have, and they did so in 1968.

Consider if the footage was shown to teenagers and they were asked what the two men watching the video were using; how many would state it was an iPad?