Samsung wins battle forcing Apple to run apology ads

By Matthew Chapman, marketingmagazine.co.uk, Friday, 19 October 2012 11:41AM

Apple will be forced to deny that Samsung ripped off its designs for the iPad in a press campaign after losing an appeal over a High Court judgement.

The press ads will run on a page earlier than page six in the Financial Times, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, Mobile Magazine and T3 magazine after Apple lost an appeal that ruled Samsung had not ripped off the design of the iPad.

Sir Robin Jacob turned down Apple’s appeal and has insisted the ads clarifying the situation must come "from the horse’s mouth [because] nothing short of that will be sure to do the job completely".

Creative will have to acknowledge that the court has decided the Samsung products do not infringe Apple’s registered design in a font no smaller than Arial 14pt.

Jacob was ruling on the original court case involving Judge Birss that Apple lost, but which gained widespread publicity after Birss ruled Samsung could not have copied the Apple design because its products were "not as cool".

Following the Judge Birss judgement Apple obtained a German order banning Samsung from selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 throughout Europe.

However, Jacob has decided not to overturn the decision by Birss on the basis of the related court battle at the Oberlandesgericht court.

Jacob said: "The decision of the Oberlandesgericht received much publicity. What was the ordinary consumer, or the marketing department of a potential Samsung customer to make of it? On the one hand the media said Samsung had won, on the other the media were saying that Apple had a German Europe-wide injunction. Real commercial uncertainty was thereby created."

Samsung has welcomed the court ruling and has hit back at Apple for attempting to get its product banned for having a rectangular shape and rounded corners.

A spokeswoman said: "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."

Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

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This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk