Does It Smell Like It?

While we normally try to avoid getting involved in the many patent disputes between Apple and what seems like every other tech company in the world, a judge’s statement in a recent case caught the attention of the Small Dog crew.

Judge Thomas Pender of the International Trade Commission has said that his decision as to whether Samsung has violated Apple’s patents will hinge on the following conditions: “Does it look like it, feel like it, smell like it?”

This is of course a reference to Cheech and Chong’s classic routine in which they are trying to determine the nature of a…um…let’s call it “mysterious pile” that they have come upon. After looking at it, feeling it, smelling it, and (this is hard to even write) tasting it, they determine that it is in fact what they thought it was and note that they are glad they didn’t step in it.

Here at Small Dog HQ we generally just use the first criteria when determining where to step when we walk around the grounds, but I can appreciate a thorough scientific investigation.