By now you’re probably more than familiar with the dispute that’s been going on between Apple and Samsung. In a nutshell Apple requested a ban on Samsung products for copyright infringement. They succeeded in getting the Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned in Germany and Australia, and even forced Samsung to redesign the Tab 10.1. Even after the redesign they still want it banned in Germany. There’s obviously a lot more to it, but that’s the basics.

Samsung argues that there are only so many ways you can design a device, and they had no other options than to make the devices look like they did. After taking a quick glance at the competition we can’t help but disagree with that. There are many phones that do not look like an iPhone. Tablets are a little more difficult since it is essentially just a screen. Apple disagrees with Samsung as well, and they have layed out a list of things Samsung could do to make their products look less Appley.

For smartphones:

• Front surface that isn’t black.
• Overall shape that isn’t rectangular, or doesn’t have rounded corners.
• Display screens that aren’t centered on the front face and have substantial lateral borders.
• Non-horizontal speaker slots.
• Front surfaces with substantial adornment.
• No front bezel at all.

And now for tablets:

• Overall shape that isn’t rectangular, or doesn’t have rounded corners.
• Thick frames rather than a thin rim around the front surface.
• Front surface that isn’t entirely flat.
• Profiles that aren’t thin.
• Cluttered appearance.

Some of these are fair suggestions, but most are a little ridiculous. According to this list just about every hardware manufacturer from Asus to ZTE has infringed on Apple’s design. What do you think? Is Apple being fair?

via The Verge