Apple Must Try Again With Samsung Statement

The UK court of appeal has ruled that Apple must change the wording of its acknowledgement that Samsung did not copy the design of the iPad, as the company's current attempt was deemed to be "non-compliant" with an order the court made in October.

Currently, Apple has a small link in the lower-right corner of its UK homepage reading "Samsung/Apple UK judgement", and leading to a page stating the UK court's decision that Samsung did not copy the iPad is designing its own Galaxy tablet.

Apple also snuck in a quote from the court ruling, saying that the iPad is "a cool design".

Unsurprisingly, this isn't enough - especially as the message adds that courts in America and Germany disagree with the UK and believe that Samsung has copied Apple - so the company must now place the statement on its home page (not a link to it), change the wording, and use at least 11-point font.

The updated statement must also remain in place on the homepage until 17 December.

In the hearing on Thursday morning, Apple was told that it must make the changes within 48 hours, to which the company argued it would take at least two weeks to correct its statement - a claim one judge said he "cannot believe."

This whole debacle is starting to sound like one child being told to say sorry to the other for spilling his milk, so while we agree that Apple should do as it's told, trying to accept its punishment as unconvincingly as possible has done nothing but draw more attention to it.

Apple was also ordered in October to take out advertising space acknowledging the court's decision that Samsung did not copy the iPad design in publications including the Financial Times, Guardian, Daily Mail, T3 and Mobile magazine, but these adverts have not yet appeared

It was back in July that the UK court first ruled that Samsung's Galaxy Tab did not infringe on the iPad's design, and the corrective statement was then ordered.