High Court Rejects Apple Samsung Appeal
Apple must run apologetic adverts in national publications and on its website
Apple will have to run adverts in several major UK publications and on its website stating that Samsung didn’t copy the design of its mobile devices after it lost its appeal at the High Court.
The original ruling had stated that the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 could not possibly be confused with each other as the Samsung device wasn’t “cool” enough.
Samsung has welcomed the ruling, while Apple can still appeal to the Supreme Court.
Apple Samsung UK Battle
The appeal judges decided not to overturn the decision on the basis that a similar battle in the German courts could cause confusion in consumers’ minds. Three judges were involved with the decision and said that the case was not about whether Samsung had copied Apples intellectual property, but whether the designs of their respective products were too similar.
They noted that the Samsung logo on the front of its devices distinguished it from Apple’s design and that the sides were significantly different.
“We continue to believe that Apple was not the first to design a tablet with a rectangular shape and rounded corners and that the origins of Apple’s registered design features can be found in numerous examples of prior art,” said Samsung in a statement. “Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited.”
Apple will now have to place adverts in publications such as the Guardian, the Daily Mail, Financial Times and T3 as well as a link to the ruling on its website to compensate for giving the impression that Samsung had copied its design.
The ruling is the latest development in an ongoing worldwide patent war between the two companies. In August, Samsung was ordered to pay Apple £664 million in damages after a US Court found that Samsung’s smartphones and tablets infringed Apple’s software and design patents.
Samsung has hit back with a new lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the flagship iPhone 5 uses eight patents developed by the South Korean company without a license.
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