Apple publicerar sin version av en ursäkt till Samsung [notis]

För ett litet tag sedan blev Apple beordrade att lägga upp en ursäkt till Samsung på sin engelska sida eftersom Samsung enligt en domare inte hade kopierat designen hos iPad. Nu har Apple motvilligt föjt beslutet men det är nog tveksamt om man kan kalla det en ursäkt.

Apple’s uttalande hittas via en liten länk, Samsung/Apple UK judgement, längst ner på sidan. I sitt uttalande väljer Apple först att påpeka att Samsungs platta enligt domaren inte var ”lika cool” för att sedan ägna resten av ”ursäkten” åt att påpeka att man minsann vunnit i andra länder.

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 notinfringe Apple’s registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the Highcourt is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.

In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:

”The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design.”

”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.”

That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.

However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. 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 väljer naturligtvis att inte referera till de ytterligare domslut i världen som slagit fast att Samsung inte kopierade designen.

Det intressanta är naturligtvis vad domstolen tycker om detta. Syftet med uttalandet var enligt domaren att upprätta Samsungs anseende och att tvätta bort stämpeln av ”kopierare” som Apple försökt sätta på Samsung. Apple valde istället att lägga en annat spinn på uttalandet som i grunden säger att ”även om den engelska domstolen inte anser att Samsung har kopierat så tycker andra domstolar det”.