Samsung is rewarding the ex-judge who forced Apple to publicly shame itself in a UK case by hiring him to work for Samsung.
The ruling in the case ordered Apple to post an apology on its homepage that it had been "false and misleading" in convincing a UK court that Samsung had copied its iPad design.
When Apple filed a suit in the UK claiming Samsung had copied the design of the iPad, it was only the latest in the ongoing battle between both companies. In this instance Apple was on the losing end and its punishment was a public shaming: the judge ruled that Apple would have to post an apology on its homepage. Apple complied with the judge's ruling but did so in a way that would only bring it more punishment.
Apple posted a statement on its UK site as per the judge's order, but what it posted did not go over well with the judge, since it was done in a manner that acknowledged the ruling but still insisted that Samsung was copying Apple, because courts in other countries had ruled in Apple's favor ... and also, Samsung's tablets are "not as cool." Apple's published statement, putting the company in more hot water with the UK court, read:
"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."
The UK court ruled that Apple needed to change the statement within 48 hours and would also have to pay Samsung's UK legal costs as punishment for the first statement. That pleased Samsung so much that it hired the retired judge, Sir Robin Jacob, who ruled in its favor.
The retired judge is now listed as an expert in Samsung's battle with Ericsson in the U.S. Ericsson filed a patent infringement complaint against Samsung in November 2012. Ericsson is seeking a U.S. import ban against many of Samsung's smartphones and tablets.
Since Samsung believes Sir Robin Jacob did such a great job of ruling in Samsung's favor and publicly humiliating Apple, he is the Korean giant's pick for the perfect expert in another suit against Samsung. Stay tuned to see how this plays out for Samsung.
