Gearing up for battle, Samsung is prepared to use Apple against itself. In contrast, Apple is prepared to use Google, Samsung, and external designers against Samsung. Apple is alleging Samsung was warned by multiple parties that Samsung products related too closely to Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

As per Apple’s trial brief, Apple is very clear it is accusing Samsung of intentionally copying Apple designs:

“Samsung’s documents show the similarity of Samsung’s products is no accident or, as Samsung would have it, a ‘natural evolution.’ Rather, it results from Samsung’s deliberate plan to free-ride on the iPhone’s and iPad’s extraordinary success by copying their iconic designs and intuitive user interface. Apple will rely on Samsung’s own documents, which tell an unambiguous story.”

As AllThingsD points out, a few points Apple makes are damning:

• In February 2010, Google told Samsung that Samsung’s “P1” and “P3” tablets (Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Tab 10.1) were “too similar” to the iPad and demanded “distinguishable design vis-à-vis the iPad for the P3.”
• In 2011, Samsung’s own Product Design Group noted that it is “regrettable” that the Galaxy S “looks similar” to older iPhone models.
• As part of a formal, Samsung-sponsored evaluation, famous designers warned Samsung that the Galaxy S “looked like it copied the iPhone too much,” and that “innovation is needed.” The designers explained that the appearance of the Galaxy S “[c]losely resembles the iPhone shape so as to have no distinguishable elements,” and “[a]ll you have to do is cover up the Samsung logo and it’s difficult to find anything different from the iPhone.”

While Apple’s argument may appear incriminating, Samsung, obviously, isn’t a sitting duck. As already pointed out, Samsung plans on showing the court that Apple copied Sony’s design; other defenses of Samsung include an internal user interface design document from 2006 that illustrates a UI similar to the iPhone (iPhone debuted in 2007 and the Samsung document is from 2006 meaning Samsung says it was already working on something similar before iPhone came out) and an illustration showing the evolution of Samsung phone designs pre and post iPhone. Let’s see who’s stance convinces the jury.

[via AllThingsD | Image credit: Volt Kraken]