Samsung exec 'offended' by Apple rip-off claim

 A Samsung executive on Monday testified that he found it "offensive" that Apple claims the South Korean gadget giant copied its hot-selling mobile devices. The testimony by Samsung chief strategy officer Justin Denison came as California-based Apple continued its bid to convince a jury that Samsung unabashedly duplicated hit features from iPhones and iPads. Denison responded to earlier Apple witnesses who had said Samsung copied Apple designs and features, calling the accusations "very offensive." "What we would like to do is simply compete in the market," Denison said. "We simply continue to try to deliver the latest products... to as many consumers as possible." Denison was called by Apple as a witness at a jury trial presided over by US District Court Judge Lucy Koh in the heart of Silicon Valley not far from Apple's headquarters. Evidence presented included an internal Samsung email referring to how it had been broadsided in the market by the iPhone and that design was vital to competing. "All this time we've been paying all our attention to Nokia," a Samsung designer said in the message. "Yet when our UX (user experience) is compared to the unexpected competitor Apple's iPhone, the difference is truly that of Heaven and Earth. It's a crisis of design." The date of the email, which was translated from Korean into English, wasn't clear. The email references the Samsung Omnia, a phone released in the United States in late 2008. Denison downplayed the language in the email as "hyperbole," saying Samsung is "very humble, very self-critical." Jurors last week began hearing the biggest US patent trial in decades, with billions at stake for the tech giants. Apple is seeking more than $2.5 billion in the case, accusing the South Korean firm of infringing on designs and other patents from the iPhone and iPad maker. This is one of several cases in courts around the world involving the two electronics giants in the hottest part of the tech sector -- tablet computers and smartphones. While the results so far have been mixed in courts in Europe and Australia, Samsung is clearly on the defensive in the US case.