Both are suing over alleged infringement of intellectual property rights having to do with look-a-likes. Apple claims the new Galaxy tablet is a mimic and that Samsung “copied the look, product design, packaging and user interface of [Apple's iPhone and iPad] products.” Kim Kardashian asserts that Old Navy used a model as her stand-in for the retailer’s latest advertising commercial because the woman featured in the ad looks like her.

Apple has the power and punch of a patent and trademark portfolio to back up its claim against Samsung over the design of the Galaxy tablet. In her suit against Old Navy, Ms. Kardashian is relying on the weight of her Twitter and Facebook following to substantiate her celebrity and claims of IP rights stemming from her visage and persona.

While Apple’s suit could have implications for the smartphone and tablet device marketplace, Ms. Kardashian’s suit could affect the marketplace for those persons unfortunate enough to possess similar features as that of a celebrity. Perhaps the model, Melissa Molinaro, used in the Old Navy commercials should counter-sue for loss of future earnings due to Ms. Kardashian’s monopoly of physical features. Just a thought.

Ah, the irony.

A Chinese company by the name of Shenzhen Great Long Brother Industrial Co is preparing to sue Apple if the iPad enters the Chinese market.  This company – let’s call it Shenzhen for brevity – pre-emptively cloned the iPad and released their cloned version, called the P88, three months prior to the Apple release.  It should be noted that the P88 looks remarkably similar to the iPad concept sketches and the final product. Hmmm.

The president of Shenzhen is now threatening a lawsuit, claiming Apple stole their designs!  A news report quotes President Wu of Shenzhen as being “very angry and flabbergasted” at Apple’s release of the iPad.  President Wu also stated that the P88 and iPad designs are “identical.”  Well, now, I wonder whose fault that is?

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, Apple recently filed three new patent applications leading to rumors of iPhone 4G features.  Here is the patent application related to haptic feedback technology.  For more on haptics, see this Wiki entry.

Macworld has an interesting article about three new Apple patent applications that are generating rumors about possible new features in a next generation iPhone release. Advanced haptic technology, biometric scanning, and RFID capabilities . . . there’s an app for that too.