Steve Jobs particularly irritated over Samsung's copying of iOS "rubber banding" effect

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
The "rubber band" effect you see on an iPhone or iPad when you attempt to scroll past the end of a document is something Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was quite proud of; and he repeatedly warned Samsung about copying it.

Depositions in the Apple vs. Samsung case from several months ago provide some color on the depths of Samsung's alleged infringement on Apple's designs, including a series of so-called 'utility patents' that serve up some of iOS's cachet.

They include a '163 patent relating to tapping to zoom, a '915 patent on the methods used to determine whether a user is scrolling with one or attempting to zoom into an area on the screen, and the '381 patent covering the rubber banding effect.

At some point, as Apple's Senior VP of?iOS?software Scott Forstall recalls, Jobs approached Samsung about the rubber banding effect his team was building into iOS and specifically requested that Korean electronics maker not tread on his turf.

"I don't remember specifics," Forstall testified. "I think it was just one of the things that Steve said, here's something we invented. Don't - don't copy it. Don't steal it."

Samsung, allegedly, paid no mind. And in July of 2010, when Jobs met with Samsung to discuss the mounting similarities in their mobile device designs, the rubber banding patent was a key point of contention, Forstall recalls:
Rubber banding is one of the sort of key things for the fluidity of the iPhone and - and all of?iOS, and so I know it was one of the ones that Steve really cared about.

I actually think that Android had not done rubber banding at some point and it was actually added later. So they actually went form sort of, you know, not yet copying and infringing to - to choosing to copy, which is sad and distasteful.

But I can't give you a specific recollection of - of Steve, you know, going over rubber banding with - with them in those meetings or not...

I expect it came up, because it's one of the key things we talked - you know, he and I talked about, but I don't know if it came up there.
According to court documents, Apple in November of that same year would approach Samsung with an offer to license the '381 patent. Again, Samsung didn't bite.




A demonstration of iOS's rubber band scrolling.


The documents also detail multiple efforts on Apple's part to avoid litigation with Samsung. For instance, the iPhone maker compiled a presentation titled 'Samsung's Use of Apple Patents in?Smartphones' that it presented during a meeting with the company in Korea. It followed up a few weeks later with "an electronic archive file containing?claim charts further illustrating?Samsung's infringement of Apple patents" -- material that was again used by Apple a few months later during a subsequent meeting in Cupertino.

As Forstall would recall, Jobs and Co. were quite livid over Samsung's imitation by the time that later meeting rolled around:
Well, so I - I think, in general, what Steve did in these meetings was just talk through. There's a set of things we've done, which you're copying, and those - those things, you know are - and I think a lot of different things were discussed.

Now, I can't give you specific recollections of - of what - you know, I can't precisely say this is - was what was discussed at this meeting and guarantee it. I know like the design of icons with the rounded recs was something that we cared about because it - it - it looked uniquely ours, and we didn't want other people to go and copy that design, because it would confuse users as to what's, you know, an iPhone versus what's one of these copy phones.

So - but I don't remember specifically even if in one of these things if - if the icon appearance was discussed.. icon design was discussed.

I do know that there were specific icons that were discussed where they absolutely ripped us off, and these were - some of those were extreme. One was in merging calls.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 119
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    And here come the trolls, copying and pasting their posts from all the other sites where this article has been posted.

  • Reply 2 of 119
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member


    Here's to hoping Samsung get's the hammer dropped on its head.  

  • Reply 3 of 119
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member


    Samsung, allegedly, paid no mind.


     


     


     


    They do that a lot. Replace "allegedly" with "obviously."

  • Reply 4 of 119
    ka47ka47 Posts: 25member


    I hate samsung.

  • Reply 5 of 119
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by allmypeople View Post

    Pinch to zoom, double-tap to zoom web browsing, rubber band, etc: These software features are really what will set the iOS user experience apart from others…


     


    "But they're all fundamental to the touchscreen experience! You can't have a touchscreen without them! Apple can't patent or protect something so obvious! Monopoly! Anti-trust! Rectangle!"

  • Reply 6 of 119
    paul94544paul94544 Posts: 1,027member


    well thats is what this trial is going to decide not one person's opinion like you, which is irrelevent

  • Reply 7 of 119
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    All those features were invented by Apple and Steve was right to be angry that Samsung stole his patents and profited from them. Let's hope Samsung gets fined and banned. And taken to the woods and shot.
  • Reply 8 of 119


    Samsung should lose to set an example.

  • Reply 9 of 119
    ka47 wrote: »
    I hate samsung.

    Post of the day.
  • Reply 10 of 119

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    "But they're all fundamental to the touchscreen experience! You can't have a touchscreen without them! Apple can't patent or protect something so obvious! Monopoly! Anti-trust! Rectangle!"



    Did you saw this or used this feature before iPhone? If not then its also not obvious..

  • Reply 11 of 119
    paul94544paul94544 Posts: 1,027member


    I for one am never going to buy anything from Samsung, which is my right. I will also do my utmost to trash Samsung's name and reputation ever chance I get in stores online and so on.


     


    SAMSUNG-= SAME SONG,


     


    lets starts a campaign to think up silly stupid same sounding derogatory names for "Samesong"

  • Reply 12 of 119


    That "rubber banding" effect was included on list scrolling on an ion implanter a company I was working on produced in 2004.  If you tried to scroll past the end of the list, it bounced and came back again.


     


    It's worth noting, that I installed 2 of them into a Samsung fab in January of 2005.......


     


    Obviously that wasn't on a phone, but the idea is basically identical and was out there before the iPhone.

  • Reply 13 of 119
    paul94544paul94544 Posts: 1,027member


    here's two  SAMTURD, TURDSUNG..... in the tradition of Microsux etc

  • Reply 14 of 119
    kerrybkerryb Posts: 270member


    I'm not sure I agree with you, I bought the original iPhone and used it for years until getting the 4s so I am quite familiar with its appearance. However reading about this trial and looking at the images of these phones both the iPhone and whatever Samsung did I have to take a few seconds to make sure I know which product I am actually looking at. If you live in a place where the iPhone was not available but had seen ads on TV then went shopping you could be convinced you were getting the same product or a variation on the iPhone. I believe Apple has a strong case here. They have been aware of Samsung's disregard of obvious Apple patents for years and in turn has documented everything just in case a suit was the only way to stop them. The weakest part will be the jury. Will they understand the effort Apple's designers and engineers made not to mention the investment and ultimately future health of Apple as a company in a what we now realize was a major shift in computing towards mobility. The fact that several other companies like Microsoft, Nokia, and Blackberry make smart phones that do not rely on the UI and form of the iPhone shows Samsung could have avoided this lawsuit by creating a unique product. 


     
  • Reply 15 of 119
    sandyfsandyf Posts: 42member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    "But they're all fundamental to the touchscreen experience! You can't have a touchscreen without them! Apple can't patent or protect something so obvious! Monopoly! Anti-trust! Rectangle!"



    I know you're being sarcastic, but in the case of how Apple created navigation and interface protocols, they weren't obvious or even on Samsung's radar before the iPhone. Perhaps one can create a software methodology that---in effect, provides the same user experience. And in that sense, have a work-around? Patent law is like a chess game, or in Patent Speak: "Claims is the name of the game".

  • Reply 16 of 119
    doorman.doorman. Posts: 159member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    "But they're all fundamental to the touchscreen experience! You can't have a touchscreen without them! Apple can't patent or protect something so obvious! Monopoly! Anti-trust! Rectangle!"



    Is it sarcasm? than a bad one.


    Or ore you just too young? to remember that there were touchscreen devices at least 5-7 years before iPhone was introduced.

  • Reply 17 of 119
    eakfeakf Posts: 1member


    Funny, I read the title and somehow thought that Samsung copied the requirement to put a rubber band around your phone to enable it to make calls.

  • Reply 18 of 119
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by eakf View Post


    Funny, I read the title and somehow thought that Samsung copied the requirement to put a rubber band around your phone to enable it to make calls.



    You have a reading comprehension problem. Thanks for playing. Good Bye.

  • Reply 19 of 119

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by kerryb View Post


     The fact that several other companies like Microsoft, Nokia, and Blackberry make smart phones that do not rely on the UI and form of the iPhone shows Samsung could have avoided this lawsuit by creating a unique product. 


     



    One of the better points I've ever read on this site over the years.

  • Reply 20 of 119
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by eakf View Post

    Funny, I read the title and somehow thought that Samsung copied the requirement to put a rubber band around your phone to enable it to make calls.


     


    Jetz, why'd you make a second account just to post this trolling, lying, long-disproven argument?


     


    If you have something to say, use your proper account.

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