Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Retail Store Design is Copied by Samsung too?

It has to be the irony to end all ironies. Even as Samsung and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are awaiting the jury verdict at the end of a trial where Apple has accused the Korean company of copying its designs, Samsung has opened a store in Australia that bears a close resemblance to Apple's retail stores.

Samsung's store is located in Sydney's George Street, just a block away from Apple's store.

The Sydney Morning Herald had first written about the likeness. Samsung maintained that the store was all its own idea and not copied from anywhere.

Get Live Updates on Ongoing Patent War Here

The store, which opened on Thursday morning, started off selling its new tablet Galaxy Note 10.1 priced at $589.

"Everything from the store layout to the sales staff to the products and even the packaging and promotional material is uncannily Apple-esque," the Herald said.

Tyler McGee, Samsung Australia's V-P, Telecommunications when asked about the layout of the store said that the format was what the company followed all over the world.

"Well, if you look at our layout this is the layout that we use around the world and it's about basically giving the consumers the opportunity to interact, learn and play with our devices," McGee said.

Those closely watching the developments and the battle between the two companies feel that this development will further provoke Apple, which is already convinced that Samsung has unfairly benefited from all the investment that Apple has put into its research on the designs of its phones, by wilfully copying them.