Why is Samsung Tablet Banned in EU?

I thought the main reason they got banned because they customized Android GUI
to be similar to Apple iPad. But, yesterday I went to Best Buy and tried it out.
It is very different than iPad. And to my confusion is, why sue Samsung, not
Google? The OS is make by Google, not Samsung. If Samsung changed GUI, then,
yeah, it is no longer a Google problem, but, it is the same GUI. Also I tried
Acer and other brand of Android tablet. They are all the same Android GUI. So,
why ONLY Samsung?

Anyone know why? Thank you.

Samsung are vendor of the product, not Google. Samsung choose to use Google's O/S and design their hardware to meet their own design criteria. Thus Samsung are the logical target.

I have no idea if it applies to this case, but a common legal strategy is to pick a target you can afford to do battle with, and which would make a good precedent. Then, if you win, use that precedent to ratchet up further cases and wipe out all other "offenders".

Even if they could mount a case against Google for supplying the free O/S to Samsung, their deep pockets would likely be more formidable than taking on Samsung.

@magicalclick: They were banned because of the similar hardware design, not the UI.

But it is very different . Not home button on the hardware, only software home. And the case seems different to me too. Sure it has mono, CPU, ram, and all those IBM stuff, but everyone has it too. What hardware spec is really being sued?

DOn't you know, apple patented the tablet

Fix the system please.

If you've seen Engadget stories, it looks like Apple is manipulating the images they send to the EU people...making the tablets/phones the same size when they are quite different. But I hope there is actual detective work on the EU side of things and they're not just going by imagery one company sends in.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/15/did-apple-alter-photos-of-the-samsung-galaxy-tab-10-1-in-its-inj/

http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/19/did-apple-shrink-the-samsung-galaxy-s-ii-in-dutch-lawsuit-filing/

3 hours ago,fanbaby wrote

DOn't you know, apple patented the tablet

 

Fix the system please.

yeah and soo they will charge us a use fee for the "i"  also, time to switch to a differnt language with no "i" s in it ...  LOL 

@magicalclick: Because Apple photoshopped some images

It's not banned in the EU - only Germany.

@jh71283: Judge was not sure it was his place to ban it for the entire EU. There is actually a separate lawsuit going on here in the Netherlands.

A Dutch website, www.webwereld.nl, found out that Apple manipulated the images. Apple scaled down the size of the Samsung tablet to make it look like it is the same size as the iPad.

This kind of behavior can seriously damage Apple's image.

2 hours ago,Maddus Mattus wrote

This kind of behavior can seriously damage Apple's image.

Apple could make iPhones out of dried and compressed babies without significantly affecting their image. It would just make infanticide the new "in" thing.

33 minutes ago,kettch wrote

*snip*

Apple could make iPhones out of dried and compressed babies without significantly affecting their image. It would just make infanticide the new "in" thing.

It is spelled iNfanticide.

@kettch: lol,..!

gross,..

but,.. lol!

You gotta love one of Samsung's defence claims... Apple stole the iPad design from 2001: A space Odyssey.

@elmer: I have recently got one of these and whilst very nice, it is just a desktop with symmetrically placed icons that allow you to interact with pictures, sound, video, the internet or documents, all linked together with transitions.

In the iPad I am doubly disappointed. Disappointed in Apple over-hyping what is a basic though useful product and Microsoft not being able to see the wood for the trees. Microsoft could have released an iPad 4 years ago, it would have run slower, but there is nothing innovative in this [iPad]device apart from them ensuring higher quality components are used in the construction.

Samsung ban is Epic #Fail

@vesuvius:

Should have, would have, could have,.... didnt

This is why competition in the marketplace is good. People come up with innovative new ideas. Windows was basically stuck on mobile platforms. Apple gave them the wake up call they needed.

But I agree, banning your competitors is not a good idea.

Samsung claims prior act.

The design of the iPad was actually done in 1969;

A Dutch judge ruled that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 does not infringe on Apple's patents.

Note the typical pro-Apple spin by Engadget in the title of the story. This ruling was a huge loss for Apple. The only patent Samsung was found to violate had to do with the UI of the gallery viewer, a program that's built into Android--not something that Samsung designed. Samsung also has until October to update the software, and they can keep right on selling.

This is a big win for Samsung, but it could be viewed as a slight mark against Android.