Fresh off the dropkick to Samsung’s groin, Apple’s legal team is gearing up for another fight in Europe. As it would turn out, Apple has it’s eye on Motorola’s Xoom for infringing on the design of the now quite invincible iPad.
FOSSpaptents noted that buried in the complaint that led to the injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Europe was a mention of additional complaints against Motorola and a German company named JAY-tech. However the notes are light on details. Further investigation reveals that Apple has already won an injunction against the JAY-tech tablet had in the works.
So what do we get out of this escalation of pillow fights between Motorola and Apple? A big bag of meh. Up till now, the fight has been over patents related to the iPhone and DROID lines. The escalation isn’t entirely unexpected. This does speak to the hypocritical criticism of Microsoft’s legal activities. The truth is, fighting to the top of the mountain is a good old fashioned drag out knuckle fight, but once you’re up there, the inhuman demonic spawn lawyers, take over. Can Apple get an injunction against everyone? Not likely, but it can certainly disrupt their business. The question becomes, at what point does patenting a rectangle become anti-competitive?
Should be fun.
Source: All Things D, FOSS Patents
This is getting absurd. The only way the Xoom looks anything like the iPad is if you look strictly at the screen and can’t tell the difference between a rectangle and a square(…ish…thing). The materials are different, the construction is different, the layout of the buttons is different. The only thing it has in common with the iPad is that it’s a tablet.