SAN JOSE – An expert witness testifying for Apple said as many as 11 Samsung phones and two tablets infringe Apple design patents.
Peter W. Bressler—a consultant and teacher of industrial design who holds more than 30 design patents—said 11 Samsung phones infringe Apple’s D618,677 design patent. The patent mainly covers the appearance of the front face of the iPhone including its rectangular shape with rounded corners and a flat, black front surface.
“The eyes of the ordinary observer… might mistake one for the other,” he said of the Samsung handsets including the Samsung Galaxy S 4G and the iPhone.
Eight Samsung handsets infringe Apple’s ‘087 design patent, and Samsung’s 7- and 10-inch Galaxy Tab products infringe Apple’s ‘899 patent, he added. “It is my opinion that there are a number of Samsung phone and two Samsung tablets that are substantially the same” as the designs in the iPhone and iPad, he told the nine members of the jury here.
Bressler said he considered the best examples of prior art brought forward to date by Samsung. He said he does not believe they relate to or invalidate the design elements in the Apple patents.
Separately, Apple brought into evidence two reviews of Samsung phones in question.
In one review
Wired Magazine described the Samsung Vibrant as, “the body of an iPhone and brains of Android.” The “Vibrant’s industrial design is shockingly similar to the iPhone 3G,” it said.
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PC World review of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 said it was “often being mistaken by users passing by (including iPad 2 users) for an iPad 2.”
Bressler will face cross examination from Samsung this afternoon which is expected to bring its own experts to testify. This is the second week of the case expected to last about a month.
Apple is seeking $2.5 billion for infringement and damages, a landmark figure for a patent case. A separate, related case is slated to begin here between the two parties in March.
