UK Court Orders Apple To Pay All Of Samsung’s Legal Fees In Patents Case

Earlier this month, the UK Court of Appeal in London ordered Apple to remove the misleading statement citing a judge comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products and replace it with a new notice. Apple showed compliance by publishing a revised notice, acknowledging that Samsung did not infringe Apple’s patents and therefore did not breach U.K. law. Now, the UK court has ruled that Apple must also pay all of Samsung’s legal fees in the design patent dispute (via The Verge).

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The ruling has been intended to humiliate Apple, and will require the company to pay a majority of the expenses associated with Samsung’s legal defence. The source details that the order also highlights te court’s issues with Apple’s original statement, which contained improperly inserted text within the notice that was required by the court.

Unlike in the US, losers in legal cases in England and Wales are generally expected to pay the fees of their opponents, but the requirement to compensate Samsung on an indemnity basis adds an extra degree of censure to an already unusual judgement. The decision comes as British and German courts engage in a proxy war over jurisdiction in cases involving so-called ‘Community designs,’ legal rights similar to patents which are intended to cover the entirety of the European Union.

Apple has been ordered by the court to keep the revised notice on its UK website for at least a month. You can read Apple’s full statement at Samsung/Apple UK judgement.

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