The U.K. High Court has upheld a previous ruling that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 does not infringe on the design patents that Apple holds on the iPad. Apple had appealed a ruling made by Judge Birss in Julythat not only does the Galaxy Tab 10.1 not have the “understated and extreme simplicity” of the iPad. Judge Birss also said that it would be difficult for consumers to confuse the two tablets as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is “not as cool” as the iPad.
“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,” said a spokeswoman for Samsung. “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,” she added.
At the time of writing, Apple had not issued a statement in response to the loss of its appeal. Where U.S. courts are generally more sympathetic to claims of patent infringement, U.K. courts are less so. Typically, U.K. courts only find patent violations to be upheld in as little as 15 percent of cases. Even in Apple’s biggest win against Samsung in a Californian court where it was provisionally awarded $1.05 billion in damages from Samsung, the same jury also found that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 did not infringe on Apple’s iPad design patents.
