Comparing Earphone Patent Figures  

By juxtaposing a key patent figure from Samsung's current patent application against one of Apple's original granted patent images you can clearly see that Samsung is once again trying to copy yet another Apple idea. There's not much to argue about here. 

One of the key points that Apple made at trial was that Samsung was 'slavishly' copying the iPhone and iPad designs. It now appears by this latest Samsung patent filing that it's just a philosophy that Samsung lives and dies by, a philosophy that says that copying is okay; that getting caught is just the price for doing business and a  means of staying ahead of their competition. A philosophy that Korea's KDB Daewoo Securities thinks is what makes Samsung so brilliant and successful. It's all about being blindly defiant.

Blind Defiance

After Apple's patent infringement lawsuit victory was handed down, Samsung stated that the "verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer. It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices."

I don't even understand that kind of logic that's basically saying that if we can't copy Apple quick enough, if we really have to innovate, then it'll take us longer to get our products to consumers and cost them more because we'll have to actually patent more stuff - and that's all Apple's fault. It's simply blind defiance. But their fans feverishly lap it up.

The Tea Party of the Tech Industry

If you think that Samsung's being defiant, then you should take note of their fan base that manifest equal zeal. It''s no secret to insiders that the Samsung-Google-Android fan base is certainly a boisterous one that will vehemently disagree with anyone or any source that gives Apple any credit for any innovation. To them, Apple stole everything that has made the iPhone and iPad a success. They're in many ways the Tea Party of the tech industry. After Apple's legal victory, NBC posted poll results to the question "Do you agree with the outcome of this case? The results of the poll showed that almost two-thirds of the votes disagreed with the verdict. Yet the types of comments that were found on the posting clearly indicated that those voting against the verdict were simply die-hard Android fans and not your average reader. Distort reality, why not?

Androiders are also the ones that are constantly yelling that the patent system is broken because Apple is allowed to patent everything under the sun. Really now – then why is it that Samsung was the number two patent filer in the world in 2011 while Apple ranked thirty-ninth? Isn't Samsung trying to protect their ideas like Apple is? Of course they are and that's why I call the core die-hard Android fans the Tea Partiers of the tech industry. Facts just don't seem to matter. It's really all about senseless anger and wacky arguments: The louder, the better!  

While I can truly state that I appreciate Samsung's innovative side, the fact is that I agree with the verdict that the jury handed down against Samsung. Likewise, when I see a patent application like the one noted above, I scratch my head and say, here they go again.

At the end of the day, Samsung may in fact be copying Apple's earphones but it's just not worth Apple's time to drag them in to court over. Apple knows where their profits are and what they will and won't go to war over. Apple's war cry will never be summoned for their earphones. It's just not going to happen. But at least we'll know for the record that Apple's point of Samsung slavishly copying their products goes beyond iDevices.

Sites Covering our Original Report

MacSurfer, Twitter, Facebook, Apple Investor News, Google Reader, Macnews, iPhone World Canada, MacDailyNews, MacPlus France, and more.