Apple wins
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 24th Aug 2012 23:54 UTC
Legal And just like that, within a matter of days, the jury has reached a verdict in Apple vs. Samsung. The basic gist is simple: Apple's software patents are valid, and many Samsung devices infringe upon them. Apple's iPhone 3G trade dress is valid, and Samsung's Galaxy S line infringes, but other devices did not. Samsung did not infringe Apple's iPad design patent. Apple did not infringe any of Samsung's patents. Apple is awarded a little over $1 billion in damages. Competition lost today, and developers in the United States should really start to get worried - software patents got validated big time today.
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RE[3]: Oh the rage on here...
by Morgan on Sat 25th Aug 2012 08:47 UTC in reply to "RE[2]: Oh the rage on here..."
Morgan
Member since:
2005-06-29

Please reread my post. I'm not talking about general shapes or functional designs, I'm talking about those little touches that normally make it easy to distinguish one make from another. You're not going to look at a Ford Fusion and a Honda Accord and confuse the two; there are distinctive flourishes that make each car stand out and speak its designer's language. Now, take a 2008 Accord and a 2009 Hyundai Elantra. They have nearly indistinguishable front fascias. The 2009 Hyundai Sonata goes even further back; its tail light shape, size and angles are almost exactly the same as the 2005 Accord, to the point that you have to be close enough to see the swooping "H" symbol to know it's a Hyundai.

Kia cars are designed in the USA. They are not copies of anything western.


Not quite true. From Wikipedia: "The Namyang Design Center, located in Hwaseong, South Korea, serves as Kia's primary design facility. The facility, which is shared with parent company Hyundai, is located on over 3.3 million square meters of land and serves as the central hub for engineering work encompassing the entire design process, from pre-design studies, prototyping and extensive track testing, full-scale wind tunnel aerodynamic testing, to crash testing." (emphasis mine).

Anyway, I have nothing against Kia/Hyundai; indeed, ever since Hyundai re-released the Accent I've been interested in driving one, as well as the 2012 Elantra redesign, but my current needs and financial situation dictate that I stick with my older, paid-for truck and SUV.

Reply Parent Score: 2

unclefester Member since:
2007-01-13

Carmakers very rarely copy each other. The common styling cues are usually because manufacturers frequently hire outside designers. These designers then recycle their own designs for different models.

A well known example of "copying" is the Puegeot 404 and Austin Cambridge A60 from the early 1960s. They look almost identical because both were designed by Farina.

Reply Parent Score: 2