Samsung Invokes Kubrick Defense in iPad Suit

While Apple tries to stop the sale of Android-based Galaxy Tab in a number of countries, Samsung has come up with a clever defense that was foretold in 1968.

The iPad-maker is seeking an injunction against the Galaxy Tab-maker for allegedly infringing upon Apple's intellectual property rights by copying the design of its tablet computer.

But in court filings, Samsung says it may be Apple that is taking a page out of someone elses design book.

Mac Rumors reports that in filings, the Galaxy Tab-maker argues that a scene from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 movie "2001: A Space Odyssey,"  which they say shows the iPad before Steve Jobs had even experienced puberty.

As we've noted in a number of reports in recent months, Apple and Samsung are currently engaged in a high-stakes intellectual property battle, with Apple seeking injunctions in a number of countries to prevent Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab and other Android-based products. Apple claims that Samsung has infringed upon Apple's intellectual property rights by copying the designs of popular Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

According to the filing:

Attached hereto as Exhibit D is a true and correct copy of a still image taken from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey." In a clip from that film lasting about one minute, two astronauts are eating and at the same time using personal tablet computers. The clip can be downloaded online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ8pQVDyaLo. As with the design claimed by the Dā€™889 Patent, the tablet disclosed in the clip has an overall rectangular shape with a dominant display screen, narrow borders, a predominately flat front surface, a flat back surface (which is evident because the tablets are lying flat on the table's surface), and a thin form factor.

An interesting claim considering Apple argues Samsung's Tab infringed upon its right with a similar design.

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