Apple's First Expert Witness Struggles During Samsung's Cross Examination

[Akshay Masand]

In the recent Apple vs. Samsung trial, the Cupertino California company brought Peter Bressler, its first expert witness to the stand. During Apple’s examination, Bressler claimed Samsung’s designs were “substantially the same” as Apple’s; a thought which gained some traction at first. During Samsung’s cross-examination, Bressler ended up faltering.

In his testimony, Bressler, the founder of design firm Bresselgroup, walked the jury through the designs of numerous Samsung smartphones and tablets in an attempt to illustrate their similarities with Apple’s asserted patents. Here he went as far as accusing that Samsung infringed on a number of Apple patents. According to Bressler:

My opinion (is) that there are a number of Samsung phones and two Samsung tablets that are substantially the same as the design in those (Apple) patents.

He went on to point out that the designs are so similar that a consumer could confuse Samsung products with Apple products, a theory which was suggested by a Samsung study of Best Buy customers.

When being cross-examined by Samsung lawyer, Charles Verhoeven, Bressler admitted that he had not witnessed customers mistakenly purchasing Samsung products. The expert was also grilled over the design elements between the two companies’ devices, and at one point even said “you’re asking me to compare peanut butter and turkey.” When stating the aforementioned analogy, Verhoeven asked which design was which food to which Bressler replied, “this is a level of detail that the ordinary observer would never be interested in looking at.”

Upon furthering questioning, Samsung asserted prior art claims regarding the iPhone’s front face which prompted Bressler to note the comparison was an improper analysis of the design patents. According to The Verge, Bressler pointed out that all eight illustrations should be used when examining prior art instead of the one view Samsung was comparing against. He continued on to say the following:

I believe the ordinary observer should be getting an overall impression of what the design of the phone is. I don't believe they should be examining teeny details the way you're doing.

The trial is set to continue with more testimony from Bressler and Apple expert witness Susan Kare, the former Creative Director at NeXT and contributor to the first Mac’s graphical elements.

Source: CNET, The Verge

[Glocknine]

Lol expert! Thats what I call serving yourself on a silver platter!

[HovikGas]

Samsung's own study has shown that "customers," whether it is only 2 or not doesn't matter, returned Samsung tablets because they thought they were iPads. I think that's enough evidence, at least in terms of patents pertaining to the iPad, however ridiculous they may be.

[PAKIS-RULEZ]

Samsung's own study has shown that "customers," whether it is only 2 or not doesn't matter, returned Samsung tablets because they thought they were iPads. I think that's enough evidence, at least in terms of patents pertaining to the iPad, however ridiculous they may be.

only a *language removed* would buy a samsung tab knowing it says in big letters that its Samsung Tab and the best buy rep who sold it is also dumb and didn't notify the customer that it is not ipad. this bustbuy story is all bull crap. maybe apply staff member bought it and did this prank. a normal person would know what is ipad or what is samsung! even it says on the box lol!

[Wheaties_92]

Who gets confused in buying tablets one obviously says Samsung and the other says apple iPad

[Glocknine]

Who gets confused in buying tablets one obviously says Samsung and the other says apple iPad

Umm could be some people that lives inside a cave, and the idea is backup by hardcore apple fanboys

[NakedFaerie]

What is the reason for the banning of the Galaxy Tab 7.7?
I got one and I got an iPad and they are completely different and there is no way ANYONE will get the 2 mixed up.
They are 2 different sizes, different shapes and different OS's. There is nothing similar and nobody will mix up the two.

Same as the phones. You want to know why the phones are turned off in the picture above, its coz if you turned them on you will see straight away which is the boring iPhone and which is the always changing always looking better Samsung Android Phone.

[PAKIS-RULEZ]

What is the reason for the banning of the Galaxy Tab 7.7?
I got one and I got an iPad and they are completely different and there is no way ANYONE will get the 2 mixed up.
They are 2 different sizes, different shapes and different OS's. There is nothing similar and nobody will mix up the two.

Same as the phones. You want to know why the phones are turned off in the picture above, its coz if you turned them on you will see straight away which is the boring iPhone and which is the always changing always looking better Samsung Android Phone.

its just Apple's greed thats all. they hating that they got some competition! and to use their money in reserves to kill the competition. I am praying that they lose this case. my whole family usees iphones and i have finally stop buying apple's products just because the Company's morals have gone down! they don't care about customers, but the money. I believe if someone is getting better that me I need to improve my self and make myself better so that ppl will like me not by killing the person who is better than me. thats just playing dirty.

[AUZambo]

Who gets confused in buying tablets one obviously says Samsung and the other says apple iPad

These are the same people who actually wire money to unknown relatives in Nigeria because there's a promise of a million dollar inheritance.

My guess is the people who mistakenly bought the wrong iPad were older people who honestly don't know the difference. Perhaps they think "iPad" is just a generic name for a tablet??

I've seen enough news articles detailing the trials of idiots to believe the Best Buy story.

[patoons]

ive known people who've bought generic touch screen mp3 players thinking they had an iPod touch. perhaps it's not that people thought the samsung tablets were iPads, but rather they associate the term iPad for any tablet

[cgfusion]

Blah blah blah, people get a frick'n life. Go blow up your girlfriends, put your droid on vibrate and have the best time of your life

[Glocknine]

Blah blah blah, people get a frick'n life. Go blow up your girlfriends, put your droid on vibrate and have the best time of your life

Nerdrage!

Apple is so furious to samsung because they found a competition that bested their products

[sw606]

do you know that plastic surgery is vey common in korea? get your attention first. that is what samxxx does.

btw, the first few comments, imo, are likely posted by people working for koeans.

[Spazmonic]

What is the reason for the banning of the Galaxy Tab 7.7?
I got one and I got an iPad and they are completely different and there is no way ANYONE will get the 2 mixed up.
They are 2 different sizes, different shapes and different OS's. There is nothing similar and nobody will mix up the two.

Same as the phones. You want to know why the phones are turned off in the picture above, its coz if you turned them on you will see straight away which is the boring iPhone and which is the always changing always looking better Samsung Android Phone.

Yea, I have to agree. iOS has become stale. Apple makes a great product, but has just lost focus on being different.

[awsy44]

What is the reason for the banning of the Galaxy Tab 7.7?
I got one and I got an iPad and they are completely different and there is no way ANYONE will get the 2 mixed up.
They are 2 different sizes, different shapes and different OS's. There is nothing similar and nobody will mix up the two.

Same as the phones. You want to know why the phones are turned off in the picture above, its coz if you turned them on you will see straight away which is the boring iPhone and which is the always changing always looking better Samsung Android Phone.

you are so right!, iphones and ipads are becoming more and more boring, and lets be honest, when you want to flash $500+ to buy an ipad or an iphone, you are going to make sure what you are buying, unless you're a hillbilly who just won the lottery

[PokemonDesigner]

Samsung's own study has shown that "customers," whether it is only 2 or not doesn't matter, returned Samsung tablets because they thought they were iPads. I think that's enough evidence, at least in terms of patents pertaining to the iPad, however ridiculous they may be.

People do that with many other tablets because people are not tech smart. They think any tablet they see is an iPad. I help people choose between tablet laptop and notebook and they all call tablets iPads. They are all uninformed idiots if you ask me. They only know the biggest name brand of a type of device and then they are clueless. The iPad confusion means nothing at all. Just dumb luck.

[Dark_Ninja]

They just don't know any better. They hear iThis and iThat and just relate that to anything electronic. It's all ignorance really. I feel bad for how little most people actually know about the product they are buying. Also they don't like to read the box.

[trek-life]

I'd imagine some older people who know little about technology but want a "tablet" could make this mistake. Believe it or not there are quite a few people out there that don't know the difference. It's unfair to create a product so similar that those people are confused about their purchase.

I for one think that people who argue over which company is better but don't own stock in either one are far more stupid than anyone that makes the mistake of buying technology they don't completely understand

[parahelium]

its just Apple's greed thats all. they hating that they got some competition! and to use their money in reserves to kill the competition. I am praying that they lose this case. my whole family usees iphones and i have finally stop buying apple's products just because the Company's morals have gone down! they don't care about customers, but the money. I believe if someone is getting better that me I need to improve my self and make myself better so that ppl will like me not by killing the person who is better than me. thats just playing dirty.

Same here, i had iphones but I stopped buying Apple products a while ago. Wife still using an iphone but I will soon get her an Android device.

[MaStA819]

Apple isn't going to be happy until they are the only company allowed to produce smart phones and tablets...