13th Entry: Apple: iPad Stealer?

Now, the tables are turned. The corporation said to be at the forefront of innovation and design technology is currently facing a big accusation from a small Chinese electronics company. Shenzhen Great Loong Industrial cried infringement, alleging that last July, it released a tablet computer called P88, which is significantly similar to Apple’s iPad.

Are the allegations true? Let’s see.

According to the news, P88 is a tablet computer which runs Microsoft Windows instead of Apple’s iPhone OS. It has an Intel chip (a 1.6 GHz Atom versus the iPad's A4 1GHz unit) and uses a 10-inch-diagonal screen, which is substantially similar to the iPad’s 9.7-inches screen. It is a pound heavier than the iPad and has a battery life of 1.5 hours, as compared to iPad’s 10-hour battery life. Oh, and by the way, the P88 looks like this:

Now, who owns the patent over the device? Under Philippine law, in case of patents, we follow first-to-file rule, where the right to the patent shall belong to the first who filed an application for such invention. Moreover, independent creation is no defense in patent infringement. Unfortunately, however, the question is far more complicated than this.

In the fast paced world of IT, where new products are created, improved or modified in the blink of an eye, cases and accusations of infringement are likely to crop up. Is Apple an infringer? The question remains…

(Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/242812/chinese-firm-claims-apple-stole-ipad-design-and-name, photo: http://www.thinkdigit.com/FCKeditor/uploads/p88-tablet-1.jpg)