It was only a matter of time before a UK court of appeal got involved and ruled that Apple’s apologetic statement to Samsung on their UK customer facing website didn’t comply with the original ruling.
That judgment is now official, with Apple being informed that they must change the wordings of the statement on the site, as well as placing it in a more prominent position that is easily accessible by visitors. In its current state, the rather comedic apology to Samsung Electronics is only found via a small link at the footer of the Apple.com/UK page.
The original order was issued to Apple early in October and stated that they must issue an apology to Samsung through their website and in major national media publications stating the Galaxy Tab 10.1 maker didn’t copy the design of the iPad. The UK based court has subsequently ruled that the initial attempt at an apology is deemed as non-compliant, with a further judgment being made to ensure that Apple remove the statement as it stands and issue one that is more prominently placed and sticks to the matter at hand.
It seems that Apple has also managed to ruffle a few feathers in the British legal system, with the overseeing Lord Justice Longmore, Lord Justice Kitchin and Sir Robin Jacob making their displeasure with the company known as well as going into further intricate details and stating that the new statement needs to be added within two days, have a place directly on the home page of the Apple UK website and be written in a font that is no less than 11-point in size.
Rather than simply accepting their slap on the wrists and make the amendments, the Apple legal team attempted to argue that any changes made to the posting would require fourteen days to complete, an argument that was immediately dismissed. Although, Apple will feel that they had complied with the original ruling by updating their website with the statement in its initial form, they can hardly be surprised that they have been forced to make the changes.
The original judgment was given with the intention of informing consumers in the United Kingdom of the facts, namely that Samsung products like the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was not an aesthetic copy of the iPad. Rather than simply stating that, Apple felt it necessary to poke fun at Samsung by including statements from the ruling judge that stated the Samsung tablets weren’t as cool or popular as the iPad. We will be checking the Apple UK home page periodically to see the changes take effect.
(via TheGuardian)
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