Apple Vs Samsung: U.K. Appeal Court Upholds ‘Galaxy Tab Not Cool Enough To Copy iPad’ Ruling

Apple has lost an appeal against a ruling in a U.K. High Court that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab does not infringe the iPad’s design. The original ruling by Judge Colin Birss said Samsung’s tablets were not cool enough to be confused with Apple’s because they lacked the “extreme simplicity” of the iPad. That ruling has now been upheld by the Court of Appeal.

The original ruling also stated that Apple must run adverts on its website and in newspaper saying Samsung did not copy the iPad. Reuters reports that the Court of Appeal’s Judge Kitchin said today the notices must be in a font size no smaller than Ariel 14.

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.

We’ve also reached out to Apple for comment and will update with any response. the company said it has no comment on the court’s decision.