애플과 삼성의 아이패드 - 갤럭시 탭 간의 디자인 특허 침해 판결에 따라 판결 내용 공지가 애플 홈페이지에 올랐는데 원래 올라갔던 내용에 영국 법원이 격분, 다시 올라리는 명령에 따라 수정되었다. 그 수정 내용은 다음과 같다. (취소선은 삭제된 부분이며 붉은 색은 추가된 부분이다).
주요 수정내용
1. 판결문 안에 있던 내용 중 인용되었던 부분 삭제: 삼성 태블릿 PC는 애플 것 만큼 멋지지 않다는 내용이 있음
2. 영국 이외의 판결 결과는 다르다는 내용 삭제
Samsung / Apple UK judgment
On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (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. A copy of the full judgment of the High court Court is available on the following link from www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:
"The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design."
"The informed user's overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."
That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available on the following link from www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the Community registered design in force anywhere in Europe.However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple's design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad.
