Apple will now have to publish adverts that state Samsung did not copy its design.
Apple has lost its appeal against a High Court ruling in the United Kingdom that deemed the Samsung Galaxy Tab does not infringe its copyright for the iPad. Despite the similarities between the two devices, the Court of Appeal upheld its decision that Samsung did not copy the iPad when producing the Galaxy Tab.
Apple will now have to place “prominent advertisements” in magazines and newspapers, explaining that Samsung did not infringe its design.
The original ruling, made back in July, admitted that the iPad and the Galaxy Tab look “very, very similar” from the front, but noted that there were significant differences on the back and in thickness between the two. Judge Colin Birss also insisted that Samsung’s design was “not as cool” as Apple’s, because it lacked the “extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design.”
As you might expect, Samsung is delighted by today’s ruling.
“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,” the Korean company told the BBC.
“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 is yet to comment on the decision.
One of the judges involved in the Court of Appeal review, Sir Robin Jacob, who admitted that he owned an iPad himself, explained why Apple lost: ”Because this case (and parallel cases in other countries) has generated much publicity, it will avoid confusion to say what this case is about and not about.
“It is not about whether Samsung copied Apple’s iPad. Infringement of a registered design does not involve any question of whether there was copying: the issue is simply whether the accused design is too close to the registered design according to the tests laid down in the law.
“So this case is all about, and only about, Apple’s registered design and the Samsung products.”
Apple will now have to publish advertisements in newspapers and magazines in the U.K. to “correct the damaging impression” it has made with its claims against Samsung.
Source: BBC News
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