Rarely since I started
reporting tech legal
cases 15 years ago is an appellate order so clear: "We
hold
that the district court abused its discretion in enjoining
the sales of
the Galaxy Nexus". More: "Reversed and
remanded". Ouch.
Groklaw's Pamela
Jones has done a remarkable job combing
through the unsealed documents and
comparing them to the
court record. For example, Apple painted Samsung out to
be a
copycat, which was central to several areas of the case --
particularly
"trade dress", referring to a product's look
and feel, that Apple contends
Samsung copied from iPhone and
applied to devices like Galaxy S II.
But
in context, Samsung's internal communications were
about applying good design
principles, observing how iPhone
exhausted some and transcending the device and
its user
interface. For example, the head of Samsung's mobile
division
encouraged his team to view iPhone as impetuous to
change.