As instructed by a UK court, Apple has posted a link in the footer of their UK website acknowledging the ruling that Samsung had not infringed on the design of the iPad. While complying with the court’s ruling, they were able to get a few jabs in.
The text of the notice starts: On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited’s Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple’s registered design No. 0000181607-0001
But then Apple’s notice then goes on to quote directly from the judgement where the judge describes Apple’s design as “cool” and Samsung’s design as “not as cool”.
From the site:
“The informed user’s overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool.” (Emphasis mine.)
The page then goes on with an explanation that the case was tried in Germany, and that in the German court Samsung was found guilty. The final paragraph reading: “So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple’s far more popular iPad.”
The link must remain on the Apple UK website for one month, and as part of the ruling, Apple is also required to run ads acknowledging it. I can’t wait to see those…
