Apple manipulated picture of Samsung Galaxy Tab in filing?

James Delahunty
16 Aug 2011 9:46

Did Apple manipulate picture to strengthen its case against Samsung in Europe?
Questions are being raised about a photograph in an Apple court filing that compares an Apple iPad 2 with a Samsung Galaxy Tab. Apple has argued that Samsung slavishly clones its products, and that the Galaxy Tab takes considerable liberties in mimicking the iPad 2's design.

So far, Apple has been successful in getting a German court to ban import of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, though a court in The Hague declined to impose an immediate injunction until a decision is made next month.
Dutch publication Webwereld.nl noticed a strange comparison in an Apple court filing. The picture shows an iPad 2, alongside a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, but the dimensions of the Samsung device are considerably different to the device on the market.

The identical proportions shown in the picture lends to the accusation that the Galaxy Tab is very similar to the design of the iPad 2, but the Galaxy Tab is actually widescreen, not as shown in the picture. Some have suggested that the picture could have been of an earlier tablet made by Samsung, but that then should not be used as a case to ban the widescreen Galaxy Tab.

Other suggestions are that Apple was altering the dimensions to show other similarities, as the dimensions are not what Apple has argued are taken from the iPad 2. Still, if that's the case, even a note to admit the dimension change would be helpful to the court, certainly more helpful than none.

Other images in the document don't seem to suggest similar manipulation.