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Comment by steelaz | Hacker News Reader

Here is comparison between original (banned) 10.1 and new 10.1N model that court deemed sufficiently different from iPad - http://i.imgur.com/NhlGO.jpg (top one is 10.1N).

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I'm positively surprised that such slight change is OK. If this is how things work I don't really have problem with bogus apple design patents. Such us for Air that could hurt one or two manufacturers but not others. And even those two can avoid it with just a few cosmetic changes (so not a huge economic impact).

People were afraid that it's much more dangerous.

That's pretty much the point of design patents. They're there to make sure that purely ornamental design decisions(for example, the metal bezel on the outside of the iPad) cannot be copied by a competitor to confuse potential customers.

A metal bezel on the outside of a rectangle made of metal doesn't seem like a very important design decision that is worthy of a patent.

It got the device banned from the market, how is that not "dangerous". It's not like you can ask the court ahead of time. Manufacturers are forced to go to production, enter the market and roll the dice awaiting lawsuits. You think Apple would have just said "gray is OK" if you asked them ahead of time? (edit: and just to point out the inanity, I got the distinction wrong . Gray is not OK, the lighter one is the infringing model. I guess it's something else.)

And note that it's not just any "slight change" that works. Shrinking it by 30% did not, for example.

… or maybe they could come up with their own designs instead of copying what others are already doing? If their design is so like another company's design that they're not 100% sure that it's allowed, that's a sign that maybe a tweak or two is in order.

Did you read the article? It was the 7" tablet that was banned.

There isn't really much you can do with a tablet design. There isn't room for variety. Sharp edges are uncomfortable, so you round them. You need to hold the thing, so you need a frame. The screens come rectangular from the factory, so you make it rectangular. Apple's design patent seems to cover any reasonably comfortable tablet designs.

Perhaps, just to differentiate, for the next iteration they could go with a sea urchin inspired design and put spikes all over the back. I'm sure that would make a great tablet. Or they could use a design that makes sense, and risk getting sued again.

If changing the size dramatically, using a different aspect ratio, and having different styling isn't enough, what is?

>> There isn't really much you can do with a tablet design. There isn't room for variety.

Edit below: clarifying that the whole product is the consideration. Also, they all look like a blackberry a few miles away; the point is what do they look like to the user.

So you'd have trouble distinguishing among the Microsoft Surface Tablet, the Kindle Fire, and the iPad? How about when they are on?

At what distance? From across the room, they'd all look pretty much the same to me, outside of size:

http://geekntech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Surface-tabl...

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/08/galaxy...

http://www.eweek.com/images/stories/slideshows/ipad_security...

http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4ec2a063eab8eae47e0...

If one of those had a keyboard, that might help it stand out...

Ah. Gotcha. Here's an iPad with a keyboard. http://www.warepin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ipad-keybo...

Ok, I'm not entirely serious with that. The thing is that the keyboard is an accessory for the surface, and the styling of all the tablets is quite similar. (I was actually surprised by how similar when I looked up the images). If shipping an accessory is enough to prevent design patent infringement...

My point was, the court probably brought into consideration the Apple device itself and not just the design patent. With that design patent (iirc it was just some sketch and a few words) you could ban practically every tablet. As we see from this decision it's not the case. Differences between those two Samsung Tabs are only cosmetic.

I still think that design patents should not exist. If there really has to be a design patent, then it should be very specific and not like the one for iPad.

Does Apple have a patent on displaying "PM" next to the time? ;-)

Apple's patent covers the use of English, le pad superior est en Français. [Edit] or maybe German, all I could make out at first before zooming in was the "Mai" and "M" for presumably mercredi, but on closer examination, I see Mon instead of Lun for Lundi/Monday.

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