UK judge rules that Samsung’s Galaxy tablets aren’t cool enough to infringe on Apple’s iPad

10 Jul 2012

The Samsung Galaxy Tab

In a ruling that’s both good news for Samsung and an insult to its products, Judge Colin Birss has decided that consumers wouldn’t confuse Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablets with the iPad because the former simply aren’t as cool.

Samsung’s tablets “do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design,” said the judge in London’s High Court of Justice, adding, “They are not as cool.”

The UK court ruled that the Samsung devices’ thinner shape and details on the back make them distinctively different from Apple’s iPad.

Happy with the result of the case (if not a little burned by the judge’s comments), Samsung released a statement saying, “Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited.”

Apple continues to fight with Samsung and other manufacturers in patent cases in a number of countries and, in the US, has succeeded in securing a block on sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ahead of the trial.

Apple has 21 days as of yesterday to appeal the UK court’s decision.

Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com