As expected, Apple has come in for some blistering criticism from the UK courts over its refusal to publish a straightforward apology stating that Samsung did not copy the iPad.
The full ruling of the court of appeal hearing, published today, pulls no punches, describing Apple’s compliance with the newspaper advertisement order (in which it was instructed to publish an apology in several UK newspapers and magazines) as "lackadaisical at best". The recent statement published on its website was found to be even more serious as it contained "false material" and made out the case as about Samsung copying the iPad, when it wasn’t. (It was actually about whether Samsung had copied Apple’s registered design.)
Sir Robin Jacob, one of the three judges who presided over the case, notes in the ruling that instead of publishing the text as ordered, "Apple broke it up, interspersing it with text of its own devising", some of which was "false and misleading" and "clearly muddied the water and the message obviously intended to be conveyed by it".
