Legal analysts say judgments made upon subjective observations like “not as cool” in a legal war between two global giant businesses concerning intellectual property and affecting hundreds of millions of revenue is unheard of.
After the order, Samsung said, “Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited.”
While Apple has already stated it would appeal the “not as cool” decision, its strategy on the latest judicial order is unknown.
However, in another turn of events made during the same proceedings, the judge refused to allow Samsung an injunction barring Apple from saying Samsung had infringed patents.
In the United States, in proceedings based on similar issues, Apple has secured preliminary injunctions blocking Samsung from selling several of its products. A jury trial over the issues is set to begin on July 30 in San Jose.
Apple and Samsung are battling each other in a global war over intellectual properties and markets and have filed claims and counterclaims against each other in many countries including Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and South Korea.
Though Apple claims Samsung smartphones and tablets look, feel and work in a manner extremely close to iPhones and iPads, the British judge disagreed and said Samsung’s Galaxy tablets are thinner than iPads and “do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design.”
