Samsung, Apple spar over gadgets' specs

By Dan Levine and Edwin Chan

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Apple Inc trotted out a veteran designer to bolster its claims that Samsung Electronics copied the iPhone, after the smartphone's 2007 launch triggered a "crisis in design" for the South Korean electronics giant.

Monday marked the second week of a high-wattage trial between the world's most valuable tech company and rival Samsung, which has edged past Apple in market share and is intent on expanding its American footprint.

The U.S. company accuses Samsung of copying the design and some features of its iPad and iPhone, and is seeking billions of dollars in damages and sales bans. The Korean company says Apple infringed some of its key wireless technology patents.

Apple called Peter Bressler, a college professor with electronics design experience and some 70 patents to his name, who analyzed Samsung gadgets and the iPhone and iPad.

But the hearing quickly descended into a laborious rundown on design differences between the iPhone and Samsung gadgets, as the Korean firm's lawyer -- a patient and meticulous Charles Verhoeven -- used visuals and real phones to prove his point.

The plethora of examples included different curvatures of corners, sides that protrude marginally above the screen, different positions for "lozenge" earpieces, even encircling bezels that are not uniformly thick.

"You're asking me to compare peanut butter and turkey," a slightly exasperated Bressler quipped after about an hour of grilling, and Verhoeven quickly asked which design was which lunch treat. "This is a level of detail that the ordinary observer would never be interested in looking at," Bressler replied.

"The overall impression that the ordinary observer would have of that design, is that they're substantially the same," said Bressler, who has worked with Motorola and other technology clients.