Apple loses tablet design court appeal against Samsung
Apple has lost an appeal against a ruling that Samsung did not copy the iPad.
The UK High Court has upheld its decision that Samsung Galaxy Tab does not infringe the iPad's design.
In July, Samsung won its case against Apple over the design of the Galaxy Tab 10, with the judge ruling that it was ‘not as cool’ as the iPad and ordering that Apple must publicly admit Samsung did nothing wrong.
Apple appealed the verdict, and the ruling was postponed in late July, but it is now expected to be put in effect quickly. Reuters has reported that the Court of Appeal’s Judge Kitchin said today the notices must be in a font size no smaller than Ariel 14.
The appeal was dismissed Lord Justice Longmore, Lord Justice Kitchin and Sir Robin Jacob.
Sir Robin said: "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."
Samsung provided the following statement:
"We welcome the court’s judgment, which reaffirmed our position that our GALAXY Tab products do not infringe Apple’s registered design right. 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. 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 has not yet commented.
