By 2013, 1 in 5 cellphones are expected to be NFC-equipped. Early contenders include Google Wallet, Visa Wallet, Serve (by American Express) and ISIS. The informed user • It was common ground that the informed user is a user of handheld (tablet) computers. Effect of differences between the registered design and the design corpus• A design should receive a broader scope of protection where the registered design is markedly different to the design corpus and a narrower scope of protection where it differs only slightly from the design corpus. Arnold J explained in Dyson paragraph 39-40 that this proposition follows from Recital 14 of the Regulation, the judgment of the General Court in Grupo Promer (para 72) and the Court of Appeal in Procter & Gamble (para 35(iii)). I agree. We are open to the possibility of an alliance with Olympus," the anonymous source said, without elaborating.

vii) Overall, a design of extreme simplicity without features which specify orientation.• Samsung pointed to differences between the lists of features relied on by Apple in the various parallel proceedings. I did not find analysing these differences to be a profitable exercise.In the judgment of the Dutch Court of Appeal in the Hague dated 24 th January 2012 Stevenson is referred to there as Design '155 (see paragraphs 6.17 to 6.20). I believe those passages are based on Samsung's interpretation of Stevenson which it appears Apple did not dispute in that court. The Dutch court held that this prior design had what were called features F1 and F2. Together those are "a predominantly flat rear which bends at the sides to form the very thin edge mentioned in C [ i.e. the rim around the front face]". The Dutch court held that Stevenson has a large number of elements of Apple's design. I would agree with that if Stevenson is understood as Samsung submit. However I reject Samsung's interpretation of Stevenson. I will deal with Stevenson's relationship to the Apple design below along with the rest of the design corpus.

ii) A flat transparent surface without any ornamentation covering the entire front face of the device up to the rim; A Samsung Electronics spokeswoman said this week it had not received a detailed offer from Olympus regarding a tie-up. i)(b) Occurrence in the design corpus• In the design corpus as a whole, a good number of devices are symmetrical about both axes but very many are not. A fairly common shape, illustrated by the Gridpad (item 6) and the Knight Ridder tablet (item 17), involves having a larger distance from the bottom of the screen to the bottom edge than the distance between the top edge of the screen to the top edge. Such shapes do not have a horizontal plane of symmetry. Most products have a vertical axis of symmetry although some do not.

Comments

Apple submitted that the advances in technology meant that the informed user would not attribute much significance to the fact that the Galaxy tablets are so much thinner. They are thinner because technology has advanced. I do not doubt that the very thin profile of the Samsung tablets is to a large degree the result of technological advances since 2004. However I have rejected on principle the argument that this could justify reducing the significance to the informed user of this difference in their appearance. Despite rejecting the point on principle I will consider it on the facts next. Hatch, G. P. (2011) Critical Rare Earths: Global supply & demand projections and the leading contenders for new sources of supply. Carpentersville: Technology Metals Research. Gu, B. (2011) ‘Mineral Export Restraints and Sustainable Development—Are Rare Earths Testing the WTO’s Loopholes?’, Journal of International Economic Law, 14 (4): 765–805. doi: 10.1093/jiel/jgr034 Westphal, L., & Kuchta, K. (2013) ‘Permanent Magnets from Small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment’, Paper presented at the Fourteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium, Sardinia, Italy.

Apple did not contend that either of its famous iPad products should be used as concrete examples of the Apple design. Neither the original iPad nor the iPad 2 are identical to the design. Whether either of them is or is not within the scope of protection would be a matter of debate. To use either as an example of the Apple design would be to beg the question of the true scope of Apple's rights. What’s that, you ask? Near Field Communication essentially lets you replace your credit cards with your phone: Wave an NFC-enabled phone near the credit card reader in a store (or taxi cab), and the money is deducted from your account. Morrison, W. M., & Tang, R. (2012) ‘China’s Rare Earth Industry and Export Regime: Economic and Trade Implications for the United States’, CRS Report for Congress: Congressional Research Service.

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Clamadieu, J.-P. & Butstraen, E. (2010) ‘Les terres rares, des matières premières minérales stratégiques’, Responsabilité & Environnement, 58: 92–98. Karapinar, B. (2012) ‘Defining the Legal Boundaries of Export Restrictions: A Case Law Analysis’, Journal of International Economic Law, 15 (2): 443–479. doi: 10.1093/jiel/jgs021 Sony, Panasonic and Fujifilm have already been examining the scope and timing of a possible equity stake in Olympus, sources familiar with the matter have said. The overall impression of the Apple design • Having gone through the various features individually it is necessary to pull it all together and consider the overall impression of the Apple design on an informed user. Apple drew my attention to paragraph 74 of the judgment of the General Court in Grupo Promer in which the Court agreed with the ruling of the Board of Appeal that:

The Mysterious Memristor by Sally Adee, IEEE Spectrum, May 1, 2008. A fascinating, easy-to-understand introduction to the development of memristors. Pia Tanskanen (2012). Electronics Waste: Recycling of Mobile Phones, in Post-Consumer Waste Recycling and Optimal Production, Prof. Enri Damanhuri (Ed.), 129–150 ISBN: 978–953-51–0632-6, InTech, DOI: 10.5772/31530. Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/post-consumer-waste-recycling-andoptimal-production/electronics-waste-recycling-of-mobile-phones (Accessed November 2013) Tse, P.-K. (2011) ‘China’s Rare-Earth Industry’, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1042, USGS.This dispute is being litigated between the parties in other countries. The validity case is before OHIM. In Germany the first instance court in Düsseldorf held that the Galaxy tablets infringed the design but on appeal the Düsseldorf Court of Appeal decided there was no infringement. However the German court did grant an injunction on the Samsung tablets on a different basis under German unfair competition law. In the Netherlands Apple lost at first instance and on appeal. Both the German and Dutch proceedings are preliminary proceedings. It was not disputed that Apple has the right to start full infringement proceedings in those countries and that the preliminary decisions are not binding. This action is the first substantive hearing in the Community of the issue of infringement. This is quite a simple design but the front panel has prominent buttons (or indicators) which detract from the simplicity considerably. Such buttons are exactly what the Apple design does not have. From the internal section it appears to have what may be a rubbery outer surface. Taking into account the similarities and differences, appropriately weighted, the court can decide whether the alleged infringement produces a different overall impression on the informed user from that produced by the registered design.