Android Chief : Google Didn’t Copy Apple’s iPhone

Apple might be accusing Samsung of infringing several of its key patents, but on Friday an Android executive explained that Google actually invented many of the “key features” discussed before Apple patented them. We know that Apple and Samsung are engaged in a tough legal tussle over patent issues but an Android executive surprised everyone on Friday by claiming that many of the "key features" discussed were invented by Google before Apple patented them.

In a report from CNET, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google vice president of Android, walked the jury through early development of Android and said engineers actually tried to make software that was very different from Apple's iOS mobile operating system.

"We liked to have our own identity; we liked to have our own ideas," Lockheimer said. "We were very passionate about what we were doing, and it was important that we have our own ideas."

Lockheimer was the first witness Samsung called in its defense against Apple. Apple has accused Samsung of copying its iPhones and iPads, but Samsung has argued that Google designed many of the features for Android first.

The patents in dispute cited by Apple in this trial cover various smartphone technologies, including a universal search feature used by Siri, a “slide-to-unlock” feature, an “autocomplete” feature, a “quick links” data detection method,  and a background synching technology.

All of the patents except for the “slide-to-unlock” patent involve technologies that are found in the Android mobile operating system. Since Apple is primarily targeting technologies found in Android, Samsung has enlisted multiple witnesses from Google that will testify that the disputed features were invented by the Android team first.

By the end of this coming Monday, Samsung may have called as many as 17 witnesses, CNET adds. “Many of the other witnesses on tap for Samsung are Google executives. Dianne Hackborn and Cary Clark are slated to testify about the design, development, and operation of Android, as well as possible alterations made to the operating system,” the publication notes.

However, Judge Lucy Koh has noted that Samsung must “narrow its list” of witnesses. At the beginning of the month, Apple senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller testified in the case. When asked about his first impressions of Samsung’s Galaxy smartphone, he said: "It looked so much like an attempt to copy the iPhone. It has caused people to question some of the innovations we created. I think it has confused people as to which products are creating this experience."