Apple Apologizes to Samsung... Sort Of

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As ordered by the court, Apple has posted to its website a notice that the High Court of Justice of England and Wales has found that Samsung’s products do not infringe on its design patents. However, many observers are noting that Apple’s “apology” barely fulfills the requirements of the order while continuing to tout the superiority of its own products.

PCMag’s Chloe Albanesius reported, “In July, Judge Colin Birss of the High Court ordered Apple to post a note on its website and publish an ad in magazines and newspapers to say that Samsung did not rip off Apple when it designed its tablets. Not surprisingly, Apple was not pleased and appealed the decision, so its public apology was delayed. But the U.K.’s Court of Appeals last week upheld the lower court’s decision. Apple has apparently decided not to take the issue to the U.K. Supreme Court, and posted the notice.”

The Guardian’s Charles Arthur observed, “If you can find Apple’s acknowledgement – ordered by a judge – that Korean rival Samsung did not infringe its iPad design on its website, you’ve either got a big screen or sharp eyes. Or both. As ordered by the court of appeal, Apple on Friday posted a link at the bottom of its UK website entitled simply “Samsung/Apple UK judgement”, on the same line and minimal font size as its terms of use, privacy and cookies policies. For most users, finding it would require scrolling down a page dominated by pictures of its new iPad mini, iMacs and iPhone.”

The Register’s Anna Leach noted, “Two paragraphs acknowledge the court ruling, and four are devoted to digs at Samsung. It includes quotes from the judge saying that Samsung’s fondleslab is “not as cool” as the iPad, and ends with a self-righteous declaration that courts in other countries have decided differently: ‘So while the UK court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognised that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple’s far more popular iPad.'”

Forbes’ Tim Worstall concluded, “That Apple statement is something of a masterpiece actually. Absolutely true in each and every word and sentence and rather misleading as a whole.”