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Samsung demoed other tablets in case

Samsung may have attempted to drag other tablet makers into its patent dispute with Apple recently; legal representatives revealed today that an affidavit was prepared, demonstrating in detail how other tablets bear similarities to the contentious Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Written by Luke Hopewell, Contributor

update Samsung may have attempted to drag other tablet makers into its patent dispute with Apple recently; legal representatives revealed today that an affidavit was prepared, demonstrating in detail how other tablets bear similarities to the contentious Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Magnifying glass

(Magnifying glass image by Casey Fleser, CC BY 2.0)

In a bid to overturn the temporary ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Samsung's representatives told the court today that the company had submitted an affidavit detailing how several other products in competition with the iPad operated in a similar fashion to the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

"Not only are there many [similar] products on the market ... they all have short lives, and there was evidence before [Justice Annabelle Bennett] that the other devices had the same functionality as the Samsung tablet," Samsung's representatives told the court today, adding that such products are being introduced all the time into the rapidly changing tablet marketplace.

The affidavit, according to brief statements from Samsung's legal representatives, contained video evidence showing the operation of other tablets.

"Evidence of functionality was given ... in an affidavit, and [it] examined and depicted by video the functions of a whole range of manufacturers, including Acer, Asus, Pioneer, Samsung, Motorola."

Samsung has always contested that Apple is only suing Samsung over the Galaxy Tab 10.1 because it is a "superior product", as other tablets do operate in a similar fashion to the Samsung device. The question of whether Samsung was looking to drag other tablet makers into the litigation, or demonstrate that the Tab 10.1 was no different from other tablets on the market, remains unanswered, however.

The two parties concluded their presentations late this afternoon in Sydney.

Federal Court Justices Dowsett, Foster and Yates said that they hope to hand down their decision on whether or not to overturn the injunction on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 some time within the next week, but were hesitant to commit to a firm date.

Updated at 4:38pm, 25 November 2011: added information on the judgement of the Full Bench.

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