"Now Samsung and Google have cloned the Mac mini"
http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/?newsid=3361470

Well, it is a shameless copy - and I can hear the lawyers rubbing their hands already!!


More pics here...
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/29/sams ... -3-review/

...And the official web page...
http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/de ... mebox.html
(which even looks like an Apple web page)

Most VCR's, DVD and BluRay players look very similar. Is that enough to sue? Maybe if the software menus etc looked the same IMO, but it's hard to sue just on looks alone.

Actually, no, It's incredibly easy to sue on appearance, if your appearance is distinctive enough. However I don't think they're actually similar enough to constitute breach of copyright. It's harder to sue on the notion that someone stole your 'vague idea' than your design but then the Mac Mini wasn't a new idea, it was/is just a very particular implementation of that idea.

They might be able to sue if they have a patent on the idea of a circular base that also operates as an access panel. That's a specific enough idea to patent.

Frankly though, I can't see it being worth their trouble. There are a plenty of 'living room PC' designs around and the Mac Mini is simply one of them. I don't think people are clamouring for it as a product from someone else, so it's not as if there's a huge market that would be diverted away, so proving any significant losses would be tricky.

Jon

that's never stopped Apple.

true, but is that innovation? Though I do realise the patent system in the US and here in the EU really does need a shake up.

You know that has never stopped Apple before. Anything that they think encroaches on their territory is visited by the hounds of hell. But that is to be expected behaviour by any company.

Indeed. I was more considering if it would be sensible to sue, rather than whether Apple would do so.

true, but is that innovation? Though I do realise the patent system in the US and here in the EU really does need a shake up.[/quote]
I'nm not sure innovation is actually a requirement any more. It just has to be an arrangement or design that you can get patented. 'Prior Art' seems to have been pretty much dropped from the consideration.

[/quote] You know that has never stopped Apple before. Anything that they think encroaches on their territory is visited by the hounds of hell. But that is to be expected behaviour by any company.[/quote]
I think comparing them to lawyers is very unfair on your average diabolic mutt.

Jon