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Old 09-05-2012, 08:14 AM   #127
kennyc
The Dank Side of the Moon
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From the LA Times:

Quote:
Apple vs. Samsung: Is copying theft or innovation?
Apple's big victory over Samsung underscores a central economic issue: What is the right balance between competition and copying?

By Kal Raustiala and Christopher Sprigman

September 4, 2012

Does anyone own the rectangle? Should anyone own the rectangle?

These questions may sound absurd, but they're at the heart of U.S. patent law's Battle of the Titans: Apple vs. Samsung.

On Aug. 24, a San Jose jury awarded Apple Inc. a whopping $1.05 billion in damages. Apple had accused Samsung of copying its intellectual property, including its very broad design patents for rectangular "electronic devices." And Apple wants to use those patents to stop its competitor from selling items like the new (rectangular) Galaxy tablet and (rectangular) Android-based smartphones.

Now, you may be thinking that a lot of devices in your house are rectangular. Perhaps you're even reading one now. Televisions, laptop screens, Amazon's Kindle. Even the Ur-reading device — paper — is rectangular.

Apple, in designing the iPad and iPhone, created its version of a rectangular reading platform. Yet now Apple has succeeded in punishing Samsung for much the same thing: copying a rectangular design. And this highlights a central issue in today's innovation-based economy. What is the proper balance between competition and copying?

Intellectual property law is based on the notion that copying is bad for creativity. It is usually cheaper to copy something than create something wholly new. If innovators are not protected against imitation, they will not invest in more innovation. At least that's how the story goes.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/science/...,1054165.story
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