Apple reprimanded over Samsung ‘apology’

Apple has been told by the UK court of appeal to reword its apology to Samsung and move it to the homepage of its website and keep it there until December 14.

The apology, the result of Apple losing a UK court case in which it accused the South Korean technology firm of copying its designs and infringing on its patent in relation to the iPad, accepts that Samsung didn’t copy but it goes on to highlight a number of other cases where the court had ruled in Apple’s favor. It also quoted a judge’s remarks about Apple’s products being ‘cool’ while Samsung’s were not.

When challenged in court about the statement on Thursday, Apple initially stated that the necessary changes would take up to 14 days to implement, something the judge said he “cannot believe” of a company such as Apple.

As well as a reworded apology in no less than an 11-point font size, clearly displayed on the homepage of its UK website, as part of the original UK High Court ruling made by His Honour Judge Birss, QC in July and upheld when the ruling was taken to the UK court of appeal in October, Apple must also publish adverts carrying the same statement in the Financial Times, The Guardian, Daily Mail, T3 Magazine and Mobile Magazine. Although Apple published a statement on its website on October 26 (which has now been removed), as of yet, the adverts in the UK press have not materialized.