‘Untrue’ Apple Samsung Acknowledgement Must Be Changed

Green, Apple © Art Konovalov Shutterstock 2012

Acknowledgement must be replaced within 48 hours after a judge criticises its contents

Apple has been ordered by the UK’s Court of Appeal to issue a new acknowledgement that Samsung did not copy the design of the iPad.

The Cupertino-based company published the original acknowledgement on its website last week, but many noticed it was less than apologetic.

Apple has now been ordered to remove the “untrue” and “incorrect” statement from its website within 24 hours and must post the revised acknowledgement within 48 hours.

Apple Samsung spat

apple abstract grass green © leksustuss - Fotolia.com“I’m at a loss that a company such as Apple would do this,” Judge Robin Jacob is quoted as saying. “That is a plain breach of the order.”

Apple was ordered to post the acknowledgement on its website and in several national newspapers and magazines after Samsung was found not to have infringed Apple’s design patents. A judge said the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab could not possibly be confused for each other as Samsung’s products were not “cool enough.”

The original acknowledgement made reference to court cases in other countries, such as Germany, where Samsung has been found guilty of infringing Apple patents, something which the iPhone maker said had created the “impression that the UK court is out of step with other courts.”

“While the UK court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognised that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung wilfully copied Apple’s far more popular iPad,” said the statement.

Apple’s request for 14 days to replace the acknowledgement was rejected by the Judge, who said he couldn’t understand why the new statement could not be posted at the same time as the old one was taken down. The new acknowledgement must also mention the “inaccurate” comments made.

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