Apple 'apology' to Samsung pops up in logo-free print version

Apple's court-ordered statement -- which acknowledges Samsung didn't infringe upon its design patents -- has appeared in the paper today.

The logo-free, monochrome advert was spied on page 5 of today's edition of the Guardian. If you've seen the notice cropping up in any other papers this morning, let us know in the comments or on our Facebook wall.

The extremely bland box is simply titled 'advertisement', and unless you were looking for it, you'd never know it had been published by Apple. "On 9th July 2012," the matter-of-fact notice begins, "The High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet Computers, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple's Community registered design No. 0000181607-0001."

Apple and Samsung have fought a fierce patent war across the globe, which has seen a $1bn ruling in Apple's favour in the US, and the Galaxy Tab 7.7 yanked from the show floor at an event last year.  

Apple also has to acknowledge Samsung's innocence in this matter on its website, something the iPad-crafting company used as an opportunity to take another dig at Samsung, saying that "other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad".

Yesterday, however, a UK judge deemed Apple's huffy first effort wasn't good enough, and that it would have to try again. Apple has removed the first statement from its UK homepage, and the revised acknowledgement should be popping up shortly.

Apple isn't strictly required to apologise per se, but a judge decreed it must publicly acknowledge the court's decision, in an effort to clear up any consumer confusion around which tablets to buy.

Apple's new tablet -- the iPad mini -- goes on sale in the UK today, but only generated a modest queue outside the company's flagship London shop. 

Should Apple and Samsung continue to thrash it out? Or is it time we put all this silly patent nonsense to bed? Tell me your thoughts in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.