According to the Bloomberg business news agency, California-headquartered Apple launched the legal proceedings after considering Samsung’s Galaxy Tab to be too similar to its own product. However, High Court Judge Colin Birss said the Galaxy tablets ‘do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design,’ before adding ‘they are not as cool’.

Consumer choice

In a statement after the decision, Samsung criticised Apple’s aggressive legal stance against its competitors: ‘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.’In a statement that didn’t specifically address the ruling, Apple spokesman Alan Hely said: ‘It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad. This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property.’
Apple has so far sought court orders in Germany and Holland to prevent Samsung from selling its tablet device, while sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 have been halted in the US until a patent infringement trial can be held.