back to article Galaxy Tab still legal in the Netherlands

While Samsung is seeking to overturn a preliminary injunction that prohibits it from shipping its hotly anticipated Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Europe, a court in The Hague decided not to impose an immediate sales ban in the Netherlands until it reaches a decision on 15 September. In an unprecedented intellectual property battle, Apple …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    ... Or alternatively

    Just buy the cheap and far superior Asus Transformer...

    Honestly, I really can't see the fuss over the tab, it's actually a very average tablet. If you want somethimg better than an iPad, more functional than an iPad, more open than an iPad, then you can pick up a 16GB Asus Transformer with dock for £399 these days, with all the functionality you could want (Honeycomb 3.2, USB slots, SD, MicroSD slots, HDMI out, Bluetooth, GPS etc etc.)

    1. Steve McIntyre

      If you want something better...

      then just go and buy a netbook/laptop already.

      1. JEDIDIAH
        Linux

        Apple running scared.

        > If you want something better... → #

        >

        > In Galaxy Tab still legal in the Netherlands

        >

        > then just go and buy a netbook/laptop already.

        ...except I don't need to.

        That is the key point about these new non-Apple tablets. They address many of the crticisms and limitations of Apple products. These new Android tablets are much more capable of displacing a netbook.

        It doesn't matter if a particular product is something that you happen to like. The fact that the local thug can bully it out of the market is still a problem. That same thug might be able to bully your favorite product out of the market.

    2. Dave Fox
      Happy

      The TF isn't superior - it's different

      The problem is that the Asus TF isn't a superior tablet to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 - I know this for a fact because I own both.

      The TF is an excellent device it its own right, but I see it as more of a hybrid tablet/netbook. If that's what you want, then the TF is the device to buy.

      However, from a pure tablet perspective, I do find the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to be a superior device - especially with Touchwiz - Heresy I know, but it does seem to me that Touchwiz in this incarnation provides for a much nicer user experience than vanilla Honeycomb, so much so that the GT with Touchwiz and Android 3.1 seems much slicker than the TF with Android 3.2.

      I still love my TF, but it doesn't get anywhere near as much use now that I have the GT.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    In other news, God is being sued...

    ....for mention of an Apple [TM] in genesis.

    1. Shakje
      FAIL

      Of course, god cleverly avoided this

      by not putting an apple in Genesis.

      1. yakitoo
        Thumb Up

        but....

        .... once CERN come up with the goods Cupertino can send a suitably modified version of Genesis back to sort that little glitch.

        1. Code Monkey
          Coat

          A suitably modified version of Genesis

          Hopefully without Phil Collins this time.

          Mine's the one with the Peter Gabriel discography in the pockets

    2. Field Marshal Von Krakenfart

      Adam, Eve, apples and other myths

      Up until the 17th century, the word “apple” could meant all fruit other than berries but including nuts.

      In Latin, the words for “apple” and “evil” are similar. Mālum is the word for “apple;” mălum is the word for “an evil or a misfortune.”

      In Greek mythology, Mother Earth or Gaia, presented Zeus and his bride Hera with a golden apple tree on their wedding day, the tree was guarded by Ladon, a serpent who never slept.

      Funny how some things don't change much.

      That should get a few downvotes from the fanbois ;-)

      Speaking of Adam and Eve, did you ever wonder why all the pictures of Adam and Eve show them with belly buttons?????

  3. Mondo the Magnificent
    Facepalm

    Look and feel

    More litigious bullsh*t from two companies that are not exactly starved of cash. Agreed Apple fire the fist shot here, but the loser in these "trade wars" are the consumers..

    I concede that Samsung's design leans heavily on the Apple fondleslab's design, but it's certainly not a "clone" They look the same from far, but are far from the same.

    IMO I thjink this also goes beyond the sheer look of the devices themselves, to me Samsung's packaging has that Cupertino look and feel about it. Perhaps that was the straw that broke the camel's back?

    Hopefully they can settle their differences and the consumer can be the winner here.

    1. DryBones
      Holmes

      Heh

      There is no mention of packaging here, because it can be changed at the drop of a hat. I wonder what design students study these days. Gasp, could it possibly be that they study similar design elements (like rounded corners and *shock* accent trim)? Why, the scandal! Apple has a case only if they can prove that there is no other reason to use common design elements than "slavishly copying". Too generic.

  4. hugh
    Mushroom

    Every story of this kind should include this clip.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU

  5. Richard Jukes

    heh

    How sick are the beatles right now? :p

  6. M7S
    WTF?

    We're interpreting law based on market research - Really?

    "Apple's attorneys, however, revealed market research that showed 80 per cent of consumers thought the iPad and Galaxy Tab were "identical" or "similar"."

    All of my SMT think that their iPad is just a PC* without a keyboard.

    I don't imagine however that this gives MS or IBM the right to sue Apple

    *Don't start.

    1. AdamWill

      Well...

      ...the area of law in question - community designs - does involve a 'reasonable person' test. So market research could be considered relevant.

  7. HaplessPoet
    WTF?

    aaaghh! My Laptop looks exactly like everyone elses!

    It folds in half with a screen on the top bit and a keyboard with exactly the same keys as all the others on it!

    What shall I do? will Dell, Lenevo and all the others please change the design!

    I know, put the keyboard on the back of the screen? Or on the top bit with the screen underneath!

    Brilliant!

  8. Peter 48

    Actually sales are not banned

    As a matter of fact only Samsung are banned from importing and selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1. It is perfectly legal for retailers to simply source and import the tablets on their own from outside the EU and sell them / promote them to their heart's content. Apple would need to seek an injunction against each such importer / retailer directly to stop it.

    As a result of this Samsung have received masses of free publicity, apple have been made to look like a bunch of bullies and when this nonsense gets overturned in a months time they will also face a massive bill from Samsung for loss of earnings.

  9. M Gale

    80%

    Is this like the 80% of people who think my £15 Technika MP3 player is "an iPod"?

    Or the 80% who think that a Mac is a PC?

    What about the 80% who think that a portable cassette player is "a walkman"?

    Or maybe the 80% or so that think my 7" Tab with a gigantic SAMSUNG logo on it is "an iPad"?

    Maybe the 80% who look at my Ubuntu desktop and go "is that like Windows then?"

    Maybe it's the 80% that think they are making their own website by constructing a Facebook page?

    In other news, 80% of people reveal that they don't know shit about technology.

    1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

      Yup

      The same 80% of people who think that any touchscreen phone is an iPhone, and that any tablet is an iPad.

      The same reason we call vacuum cleaners 'hoovers', because the Hoover company were an early large manufacturer of vacuum cleaners.

      This sort of tactic from Apple's lawyers is disingenuous at best, but entirely what we have come to expect from the Cupertino fruits.

      1. AdamWill

        They also think...

        ...any *book reader* is an iPad. Not a Kindle, an iPad. I have no idea why.

  10. Syren Baran
    FAIL

    It gets even funnier

    Apple filed the case in the wrong court.

    Landesgericht Düsseldorf is not allowed to pass an EU-wide sales ban, only Handelsgericht Alicante is within its rights to do so.

    Translate http://www.smartdroid.de/2011/08/apple-reichte-klage-am-falschen-gericht-ein-lg-dusseldorf-ist-nicht-befugt-ein-eu-verkaufsstop-anzuordnen/ for more information.

  11. Jemma
    Trollface

    Apple flush with money....?

    Yes, sort of. But I dont think that is the full story by a long shot.

    Apple basically bet their existance on iPhone and iPad latterly. In order to fund said they have shaved the majority of their other lines into wintel boxes with out the Win part. Should I wish to, and Hell will freeze over first, I can make of a Dell a Mac computer with relatively little a: money and b: time. Certainly cheaper than I can buy the same box from Apple. The only thing thats keeping their full size business afloat is prettiness & litigation & ridiculous prices.

    In the tablet and phone arena, they still lag behind in everything bar UX. When the apple bubble bursts (which it will, all bubbles do) where is their differentiation? They arent very secure, the walled garden is Jobs' answer to that. Theyre about as innovative as banana & custard. So thats advantage RIM/Symbian and Nokia & Samsung respectively.

    They wont apparently make a QWERTY phone, which shuts them out of that market, in fact it shuts them out of two.. The E71 and BB market and the slide QWERTY market - E7 and others.

    There is a limit to what can be achieved when your entire framework is fundamentally and artificially limited as Apples is.

    Given that this is the case, and that Apple probably know this already, it is imperative for them to go all out to get everything they can before their products.. iPhone and iPad are yesterdays news, because theyve literally got NOTHING ELSE to work with.

    Yes Apple are successful but is it true success or are they doing nothing more than financial trickery? After all, up to 2008 it was possible for a bank, perfectly legally to post their biggest profit the day they went bankrupt. Apple could end up in the position of being the worlds biggest one hit wonder since history began - and the tablet and touchscreen phone industry an evolutionary dead end.

    Pedalling overpriced desktops and laptops with no more product differentiation than a different OS just isnt glamorous, or more importantly a high margin business.

    1. Mark 65

      Maybe

      Indeed they may well fall by the wayside but one must remember that:

      1. The ipod was king for a very long time and has really been replaced by touch and/or iphone

      2. iTunes still rules until someone can come up with a cohesive multimedia library that is universally accessible and has similar depth of content. Android marketplace shit fight doesn't do it - in this respect the walled garden approach has kept malware largely at bay (for better or for worse).

      3. They breathed new life into the tablet format. One that went nowhere fast previously for whatever reasons.

      4. Nobody else seemed to want to make iMac format computers and yet they largely make sense - why have the box on the floor if you don't need it, it just looks scruffy? (Note I said "if you don't need it" so liquid cooled gaming rig owners need not vent their spleen). I used to build my own machines under the illusion of updatability but Intel's constant changing of chipsets and sockets puts pay to that. Graphics card and hard drive/ssd remain the few realistic changes you can make. Memory is upgradable on iMacs too.

      Now all this does come at a price - choice and control. You cannot buy a tower Mac unless you want to remortgage. You do what you want with most of your idevices unless you jailbreak them. iPads don't come with a card reader or USB slot - major failings in my opinion but that's not Job's business model.

      Despite owning various Apple products I'd like to seem them at least take a major stumble because with their success has come great hubris and arrogance towards their customer base. Much like it did the last time. This needs correcting.

      However all this just goes to show that bubbles can go on for a lot longer than you think. I don't think their is any financial trickery involved. The billions are there in cash for all to see. They are successful because they choose who sells their products and at what price.

  12. Chris Miller

    Have I understood?

    Some clueless local judge in Düsseldorf has the authority to ban sales of a product across the entire EU?

    Willkommen in Nordrhein-Westfalen, the EU's answer to East Texas.

    PS I find my tea-tray is roughly rectangular with rounded corners. Can I still use it or must I beg permission from St Steve?

  13. Neil 44
    Facepalm

    Luckily...

    an etch-a-sketch has two knobs on it to distinguish an iPad from it....

    http://www.prezzybox.com/data/media/12695.jpg

    Is the 80% that are being iQuoted the same as the 80% of statistics that are made up?

  14. Robert E A Harvey
    Pirate

    time to review patent law

    it seems that most of these copyright/patent/passing off disputes are about tiny matters of detail. Not about big ideas at all.

    In the UK light switches are inside the room you are going into. I'm going to patent the idea of having them on the other side of the wall so you can find the switch in a room already lit.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Alien

      Re: time to review patent law

      >In the UK light switches are inside the room you are going into

      You've either got a very short memory or are in desperate need of a shower.

  15. Dick Emery
    Stop

    A title etc

    The Tab is still openly being sold down my local PC World and Currys.

  16. James Pickett

    Thought of

    Don't these count as 'prior art'?

    http://www.objectlessons.org/index.php?mod=PageMod.showComponent&component_id=109

    Note the refinement of the fingerprint-reducing stylus, not yet discovered by Apple...

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