Click on the linked picture above to go to a newsy.com video on a new lawsuit by Apple Inc. against Samsung Electronics Co., for "slavishly copying" its market conquering products: the iPhone and the iPad. You can also find the written transcript together with the video at [http://www.newsy.com/videos/complex-relationship-overshadows-apple-samsung-lawsuit/]
Clicking on the copy above of the Apple vs Samsung lawsuit will take you the source of that image: an analysis of the lawsuit at [http://thisismynext.com/2011/04/19/apple-sues-samsung-analysis/] that quotes the allegation that Samsung "slavishly copied" Apple's designs (like a slave copies and follows his master).
Have a look at these photos from daylife.com: Samsung Galaxy phone vs iPhone, and Samsung Galaxy Tab vs iPad. What do you think?
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Some background: Apple brought litigation against Taiwan's HTC in March 2010 aiming at HTC's Android powered mobile phones. In October 2010, a mutual litigation war broke out between Motorola and Apple, that included Apple citing infringement, by Motorola's use of the Android based system, of its iPhone user interface and operating system software.
The ironic point in the most recent litigation is that all of Apple's iPhones as well as iPads, from their very first release, have been designed to run their legendary Apple iOS mobile operating system on a Samsung manufactured chip at the heart of each iPhone and iPad (the chips are now built to an Apple design). In this way, Samsung's supply relationship with Apple has been at the heart of the iPhone's success.
But with Samsung's own consumer products increasingly aiming its competition at Apple's market leaders, the iPhone and the iPad, Apple has decided it's time to sue for what it claims are Samsung's illegal product designs. Within the week, Samsung has countersued Apple over various Samsung-owned mobile technology patents. Regardless of the outcome of the litigation, if the supply relationship between these two electronic giants become strained, it is not clear which party will be the loser.
Some notes on the language:
- blatant (used in "blatant copying" in the video) - This is a good word to keep in your vocabulary and to use. It means "very obvious", "openly and clearly obvious". It is usually used to describe things in a negative way.
- tight-knit (used in the video to describe the "tight-knit relationship" between Apple and supplier Samsung) - You can imagine when you knit with woollen yarn, you can do it very tightly, or you could knit more loosely. When tightly knit, it is like the yarn is closely tied together. This gives you the meaning of "tight-knit". GRAMMAR NOTE: This is an example of a "compound modfier": two words brought together by a hyphen, used to modify nouns, and the modifier acts like an adjective. There are many ways that the English language makes compound modifiers. "Tight knit" is one example where an adverb (but with no -ly suffix) and a verb in its past participle form are brought together to become a "compound modifier" that describes a noun. (Actually, this adverb - past participle verb compound modifier means "tightly knit"; here "knit " is the past participle of the infinite verb to knit, whose past simple form can also be "knit".) Further examples of this type of compound modifier are: well-run school, hard-fought battle. (Some other types of compound modifiers: adj. + adj., n. + n., adj. + n., adj. + present participle verb, n. + present participle verb , adv.[no -ly suffix] + past participle verb. SEE some real examples at the University of Sussex website.)
- back-room deal - This is an idiom meaning some deal or agreement that is not made in the open for others to see, but is hidden to keep matters secret - where the business is not made at the front of the shop, but completed in a hidden back room. Notice that this idiom can be seen as being made with another compound modifier, an adj. + n. modifier, that describes the type of deal. Here is another example from Britain's "The Independent" newspaper: "a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) member of the upper house of the Japanese Diet, had done a back-room deal with political opponents to avoid being questioned..."
Practice your business English by watching and listening to the video above. For more detailed study, you can read the written transcript at the link given above.
[A rare opportunity for you to speak, practice, chat and learn English especially for business, finance, law, international economies & trade at the webpage for Mastery English.]
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