UK Judge tells Apple to run adverts Samsung doesn't copy iPad

According to the Bloomsberg News Agency a UK judge has ordered Apple to publish a notice on its website and in various newspapers and magazines (the Financial Times, the Daily Mail, Guardian Mobile magazine, and T3) informing visitors and readers that Samsung did not copy the design of the iPad. The judge, Colin Birss, also stipulated that the notice on Apple’s website should remain there for a minimum of six months.

The order follows Apple’s failed attempt to block sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablets in the United Kingdom and is apparently intended to correct any damaging impressions consumers may have been given about the South Korean company as a result of the litigation.

What makes the order most interesting: While Apple’s implication that Samsung copied may well have caused a few lost sales, and perhaps -- at the most -- put the tiniest of dents in Samsung's reputation, the greatest kicking to its name came directly from the judge himself when he declared that electronic giant's products are "not as cool" as Apple’s. Perhaps to even things up, he’ll pin his own pro-Samsung damage limitation notice on a tree in his garden. It’s only fair, surely.

Although the order did not feature in Judge Birss’s judgment published on July 9th, it's understood that it was discussed following the verdict. Richard Hacon, a lawyer representing Apple, told the court: "No company likes to refer to a rival on its website". Apple is currently considering taking its case to the court of appeal.

Running the notices would be a major blow for the Cupertino, Calif.–based company, and may well have some impact on its decision to sue other tech companies in the future. Apple is unusually image conscious, after all.

Photo Credit:  Andrey Burmakin/Shutterstock

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