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Comment by onetimeuse001 | Hacker News Reader

If the "new maps in iOS6 because [are] pretty much a copy of the Google Maps app" then Google should be able and should sue Apple.

Regarding design protection: Ford can't copy Jaguar or Ferrari, can it?

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Those two cars (Ford vs Jaguar) seem no more dissimilar to me than a Samsung Galaxy S2 and an iPhone: http://www.carautoportal.com/car-images/ford/ford-gt/ford-gt... http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/autopia/2011/05/Jaguar-C-X...

That cannot be solved in a few HN posts; judges, juries and appeal courts decide that. My point was that certain designs are unique, virtually all cars have four tires, round steering wheel, baggage area, airbags etc but we kinda know when we see a Jaguar, Porsche, Corvette or a Ferrari.

Not really. From the point of view of someone not into cars, Porsche and Corvette have differences and similarities, but only by looking at the brand name on the car you know which one is which. Similarly, someone knowledgeable about smartphones can tell an iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy apart even without reading the brand name (that is nonetheless well visible on Samsung phones). I haven't heard about Porsche suing Corvette because they have copied the design and users may be deceived, and I don't expect the same happening about smartphones.

to be fair to onetimeuse001, Ford did own Jaguar at one time, so it might be a bad comparison.

Honestly I thought about it and wanted to check but many brands have been bought and sold so many times :). The idea was that each unique car has their own look and design and that sets them apart from the rest.

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