Blind justice
FORTUNE — It was a judicial surprise, even in a patent court considered by experts to be the most defendant-friendly in the world.
On Wednesday, nine days after his July 9 ruling that three Samsung Galaxy tablets did not infringe on Apple’s (AAPL) patents in part because they’re not “cool” enough to be confused with an iPad, Judge Colin Birss of London’s High Court of Justice ordered Apple to publish a notice to that effect on its U.K. website and in British newspapers, according to a Bloomberg report.
Apple, he ordered, must correct any impression it left in the public’s mind that Samsung copied the iPad.
Apple has week and a half to appeal the July 9 ruling, and Judge Bliss said they were free to appeal today’s.
We suspect they will.
Characterizing the notice as “an advertisement” for Samsung, a lawyer representing Apple told the court that “No company likes to refer to a rival on its website.”
Apple has had better luck in U.S. courts. See Can Steve Jobs actually win his thermonuclear war?