Apple might have had the most notable and high-profile win in the on-going patent battle with Samsung when a judge in San Jose ruled that more than $1 billion in damages were due to the company from Samsung, but it hasn’t all been about victory for Apple who have had their fair share of patent related setbacks. One of the latest has come right from the United Kingdom where an Apple appeal to have an earlier ruling overturned has proven unsuccessful.
When Apple originally tried to have the Samsung Galaxy Tab removed from sale in the UK, the High Court in London disagreed with the reasoning behind the claim. Judge Colin Birss believed that consumers weren’t likely to mistake the two devices as coming from the same company and therefore ruled in favor of Samsung in that instance. As part of his ruling he stated his belief that the Galaxy Tab doesn’t "have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design".
The ruling was a sizeable blow for Apple who had already seen similar claims rule in their favor in different territories, but things were compounded even further when the court ordered that Apple not only had to publicly state via their UK website that Samsung didn’t copy their design patents but also take out similar announcements in British paper print publications. The latest appeal was an attempt to overturn that ruling and try and negate the need to effectively provide free advertising for their rivals by having to make reference to Samsung on their own website.
The denial of the appeal adds to yet another legal disappointment for Apple who just hours ago witnessed Judge Koh denial appeals from their legal team to not disclose certain financial documents. However, it isn’t all legal doom and gloom for Apple as the same judge has issued a temporary stay on financial related issues that means Apple doesn’t immediately have to disclose certain money-related wheeling and dealing while it goes through the Federal Circuit. Not exactly perfect news for Apple as they head closer to next week’s iPad Mini announcement, but not exactly crippling judgments either as the main battle was won by the company in California.
(via Reuters)
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