British Court Says Apple Is Way Cooler Than Samsung; But Coolness ≠ IP Infringement

A European appellate court clears Samsung on trademark violation accusations, based partly on the "awesome" factor.

Well, clearly, the biggest technology news today is that Mark Zuckerberg bought a home in the second hippest neighborhood in the country. This means we’re neighbors, and it means I’ll probably have to move soon because my rent will probably double by dinnertime.

Other than that, the global Apple v. Samsung battle royal continues. This week, a British appellate court ruled on the European incarnation of the case. So what’s the score between these tech titans?

Thus far, Apple has done alright in the U.S., but not so much in Japan. And now, let’s just say our European brethren may like Apple products as much as the rest of us, but they don’t worship at the altar of holy rounded corners as devoutly as Americans….

In an appellate decision that holds throughout Europe, Samsung was vindicated from Apple trademark infringement claims, partly because Apple’s products are, I believe the technical term is, “way more awesome.” Here’s what Reuters had to say:

Britain’s Court of Appeal on Thursday upheld the country’s High Court judgment that, despite some similarities, Samsung’s Galaxy tablet did not infringe Apple’s designs, in part because its products were “not as cool”.

The decision is valid throughout Europe and should prohibit further legal disputes between the two companies over the design of tablets in the region.

South Korea’s Samsung welcomed the decision saying in a statement: “We continue to believe that Apple was not the first to design a tablet with a rectangular shape and rounded corners”.

Samsung’s statement continued, “Our products aren’t hip, nor are they square. Who cares, though? Apple, y’all b*tches are goin’ down.”

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Whatever, at least Samsung’s products are cooler than BlackBerry, which at this point may as well go curl up in a copse of redwoods and let itself die peacefully and alone.

Even the stodgiest of BB-loving technophobic industries (a.k.a. law and banking) are dumping their old CrackBerries, according to a recent story from the New York Times:

Goldman Sachs recently gave its employees the option to use an iPhone. Covington & Burling, a major law firm, did the same at the urging of associates. Even the White House, which used the BlackBerry for security reasons, recently started supporting the iPhone. (Some staff members suspect that decision was influenced by President Obama, who now prefers his iPad for national security briefings. A spokesman for the White House declined to comment.)

Hey, whatever allows you to sleep at night — or get awakened by 3 a.m. client emails. Same difference.

Apple loses tablet copyright appeal against Samsung [Reuters]
The BlackBerry as Black Sheep [New York Times]

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