After 24 hours of being ordered by a British court to publicise a notice on its U.K. website that Samsung did not copy iPad’s designs in building its Galaxy Tab, Apple (AAPL) has posted a small link in the footer of Apple.com/uk. The “Samsung didn’t copy iPad” notice, which is rather long, dull, but without a doubt meticulously and effectively written by Apple’s lawyers, acknowledges the fact the two designs are different and that Samsung had not infringed Cupertino’s registered designs.
The complete text of the notice, which must remain on Apple UK website for a period of one month 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 Apple’s notice-response is somewhat defiant, in the sense that it underscores the tech giant’s disagreement with the court’s decision:
“[I]n a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design”, Apple says in its notice. Apple goes on to explain that a “U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. 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.”
Apple and Samsung are waging similar battles in courts and tribunals around the world. At stake is a market that according to Bloomberg grew 62% last year to $219 billion.
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