Apple: Samsung's Galaxy Nexus a copycat of iPhone

Apple argued today that Samsung Electronics's Galaxy Nexus copies many of the key features of the iPhone, including voice-control Siri, and should be banned from the U.S.

The argument is a rehash of points made during an initial clash between Apple and Samsung in a Northern California district court, a case in which Apple successfully won. Samsung appealed the ruling, and the two companies are at it again in a U.S. appeals court in D.C.

The case is separate from the ongoing trial between the two technology behemoths going on in San Jose, Calif. While that case revolves around design and the feel of the hardware, this case deals more with software features and could potentially drag Google into the fray.

Apple's lawyer, Mark Perry of Gibson Dunn, said the Galaxy Nexus was Samsung's attempt to steal market share using a copycat product, Bloomberg reported today.

Samsung lawyer John Quinn of Quinn Emanuel, however, argued that sales of the Galaxy Nexus have been minor relative to the iPhone and haven't hurt Apple, Bloomberg reported.

Apple needs to prove it lost market share and profits from the Galaxy Nexus and that the contested features drove sales of Samsung's device.

While both sides were making arguments to an appeals court today, a trial isn't slated to begin until March 2014, according to Bloomberg.

At the heart of the case is a patent involving unified search feature, which can be used to locate data on the device, including contacts and e-mails, as well as information from the Internet. Apple argued that the universal search feature is key to Siri, which provides answers from a variety of sources.

It's also a feature found in the Galaxy Nexus, but Quinn argued that few people were even aware of the feature.

The Galaxy Nexus, which launched in December, was Google's showcase smartphone, and the first device to run Ice Cream Sandwich, or Android 4.0. The phone initially launched with Verizon Wireless in the U.S., with Sprint Nextel picking up the device a few months later. Overall, the phone wasn't as popular as the iPhone 4S or even the Galaxy S II, which was Samsung's flagship phone at the time.
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57496833-94/apple-samsungs-galaxy-nexus-a-copycat-of-iphone/