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At least *someone* has heard of a design patent (and you've only been rated a 2!)
I don't know why I bother reading Slashdot any more—definitely not anything to do with patents anyway. Any patent related post is alway smothered by morons who haven't even bothered to learn the basic principles governing patents.
While Apples design suggestions are extreme, and probably not all that helpful to Samsung (but then Samsung should pay for their own industrial design efforts,) their basic point is correct. Apple has not patented the rectangle, or rounded rectangles, or flat screens, or colors, etc. They have protected their industrial design, brand, trade dress, etc. These design patents are part of that effort, and are very reasonable. Apple basically just wants to stop Samsung's wholesale counterfeiting of Apple's packaging, design, styling, etc. Samsung's knockoffs, if you will.
I mean, come on!:
http://www.reddit.com/tb/kr14a