Apple's Samsung statement not good enough: UK court

Apple's court-ordered statement exonerating Samsung in the UK has been deemed non-compliant by the court, which has ordered Apple to do it again.

When the UK court of appeal ruled that Samsung had not infringed on Apple's patents, it ordered that Apple run a statement on its UK home page to that effect, and to keep it live for a month.

Apple's statement, which went live last week, was grudging at best. A tiny link at the bottom of the Apple UK home page led to the statement, which quoted extracts from the decision by Judge Colin Birss that made Apple's designs out to be the superior, before ending with a paragraph about the rulings against Samsung in other parts of the globe.

At a court hearing yesterday morning, as reported by The Guardian, three judges of the court of appeal — Lord Justice Longmore, Lord Justice Kitchin and Sir Robin Jacob — ruled that the statement was non-compliant with the court's order, and gave Apple 48 hours to change it — this time giving firm rules. The statement must now appear on Apple's UK front page, in a font size no smaller than 11-point — and no hiding it behind a tiny link. It now also has to remain up until 14 December.

Apple claimed that it would need at least 14 days to make the change — a claim that the judges did not buy.

As Bloomberg reported, the judges were not pleased at all. Sir Robin Jacob said, "I'm at a loss that a company such as Apple would do this. That is a plain breach of the order."

As part of the original ruling, Apple also had to take out advertisements in The Daily Mail, The Financial Times, The Guardian, Mobile magazine and T3 magazine. So far, only The Financial Times' advertisement is thought to have appeared.

You can find the full text of Apple's "apology" below.