Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. made initial pitches to a US jury in their global battle over smartphone patents, with the iPhone maker alleging its designs were copied and the South Korean company countering that Apple can’t claim a “monopoly on a rectangle.”
Apple’s lawyer alleged in opening arguments yesterday at a trial in federal court in San Jose, Calif/, that Samsung infringed the touch-screen characteristics of the iPhone after it was released in 2007. Samsung’s attorney downplayed the significance of Apple’s iPhone innovations by saying other companies had received patents for similarly minimalist designs.
“As we all know it’s easier to copy than to innovate,” Harold McElhinny, Apple’s lawyer, told the jury.
In other Apple news, the company has shut down its MobileMe service and is reminding iWork.com users that it will be next to go. The shutdowns are designed to corral users into using iCloud, Apple’s cloud-computing service.