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Apple Posts Non-Apology To Samsung
We recently discussed news of a UK court ruling in which the judge decided Apple must publicly acknowledge that Samsung's Galaxy Tab did not infringe upon the iPad's design, both on the Apple website and in several publications. The acknowledgement has now been posted, and it's anything but apologetic. It states the court's ruling, helpfully referring to "Apple's registered design No. 000018607-0001," and quotes the judges words as an advertisement. The judge wrote, "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." They go on to mention German and U.S. cases which found in Apple's favor. Apple's statement concludes, "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."
I really hope the UK has the equivalent of 'contempt of court' and throws the book at those arrogant jerks at Apple.
I further hope the blowback from their attempted patent-armageddon against the rest of the smartphone industry costs them manyfold what they've attempted to extort from others. I only wish I'd never introduced my wife to Apple, and helped her climb the Linux learning curve instead. I hate the idea of giving those would-be monopolists a single penny.
It was three Appeal judges. This sort of thing really is a mistake where they are concerned, and I imagine they will be contacting one another about it on their Blackberries. If Apple now goes to the UK Supreme Court, they will not be very popular.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
Not to mention their libelous assertions that the US case found the Galaxy Tab had infringed when it was specifically specified by the jury that it didn't.
What is wrong with apologizing to the wronged party? This is how disputes are resolved in a civilized society. Do you think that a huge fine for slandering their opponent would be a more appropriate response?
I worked for Apple a couple years ago. While my experience was generally positive, I can say without hesitation that Apple denies everything until it is absolutely not possible to deny it anymore. Then they turn their back and walk away.
The arrogance at Apple at anything above a director level is astounding. I remember when the Mac Malware stuff first hit and little old ladies were getting gay pron popping up on their screen. Apple's officlal policy was that it wasn't their problem and no Applecare reps were allowed to even confirm the problem existed or help get rid of it. It took over a month for them to release a software update to scan and remove it and even after that they wouldn't publicly take responsibility for Safari automatically opening "safe" files.
Apple is their own worst enemy in this regard.