Apple loses UK legal fight with Samsung

Apple loses UK legal fight with Samsung

Apple has lost a UK court battle with Samsung over whether the South Korean group infringed on the registered design of the iPad.

The Court of Appeal in London upheld an earlier and widely publicised judgment by Judge Colin Birss that Samsung's Galaxy tablets were "not cool" enough to be mistaken for iPads.

A three-judge panel also ruled that for at least a month, Apple must place a link on the homepage of its website to bring the judgment to the attention of the general public.

"The acknowledgment must come from the horse's mouth. Nothing short of that will be sure to do the job completely," said Judge Robin Jacob in a written ruling.

Apple had claimed that three models of the Galaxy Tab resembled the registered design of the iPad too closely. But the UK court ruled that there were noticeable differences between the tablets in terms of their thickness and the designs on the back.

The ruling is the latest scrap in a global patent battle between Apple and groups such as Samsung and HTC which produce rival tablet computers and mobile phones.

Adam Leach, analyst at Ovum, a technology consultancy, said the judgment was a "pragmatic decision that prevents Apple from monopolising a range of devices" and would "keep competition alive".

Ovum estimates that 130m tablets will be sold worldwide in 2012, rising to 350m in 2017.

Apple's dispute with Samsung is particularly fierce and the two groups have fought over intellectual property rights in numerous jurisdictions including Spain, Germany and South Korea.

In August, Samsung suffered a big blow in the US when a California jury awarded $1bn in damages to Apple after finding that the South Korean group had infringed on patented features of the iPhone including so-called "rubberbanding" scrolling, its sleek glass front and its grid of colourful, round-cornered apps.

Samsung this month mounted a counter-attack and filed court papers in California to add Apple's iPhone 5 to the list of devices that allegedly misuse its wireless data technology.

Samsung said it welcomed the UK ruling: "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."