Apple accused of extortion by rival tablet biz
And we're not talking iPhone prices
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Tablet maker Nuevas Tecnologías y Energías Catalá, the company behind one of Apple's rare court defeats, is now taking the fruity tech titan to court for extortion.
Apple alleged that the teeny-tiny company's tablet, sold in Spain under the NT-K brand, was a forged iPad, and on that basis convinced custom officials to impound shipments of the rival gear coming into Spain. Those shipments ended up sitting in a warehouse for a year, costing NT-K dearly, and now it wants to see Apple hauled up for extortion as well as recovering some damages.
There aren't many details available yet, though the first page of the indictment has been seen by El Reg, and the legal definition of "extortion" is a complicated one even before one takes the vulgarities of translation into account.
Apple litigation buff Florian Mueller, who fortunately speaks Spanish as well as understanding court procedures, reckons it's iffy ground. He proposes that NT-K will argue Apple tried to enrich itself by intimidating the company into dropping the product, but Mueller also admits his knowledge of how the Spanish legal system defines "extortion" came from Wikipedia, so best not bet the farm on it.
NT-K did achieve an impressive success against Apple, and deserves restitution from the company, but one can't help wondering if that success hasn't inspired a little too much baseless optimism - David can defeat Goliath once, but next time he might decide to wear a hat. ®
COMMENTS
-1, not enough Florian rage
Not only should they be able to claim actual damages, but it's about damn time that someone gave apple a good whipping for claiming ownership of the rounded rectangle. The iPad is an extremely innovative product, but only because someone finally managed to cram all the bits in for the light, flat, futuristic, sci-fi computer pad thingy that we all though was cool when we first saw its like on the telly 20 years ago. It's not like the whole idea was revolutionary, and they surely shouldn't be able to stop others from making similar things.
> Is there no limit to superman Muller's capabilities?
His only weakness is his inability to shut the fuck up.
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