Apple's grudging replacement statement appears online

Apple has replaced the Samsung message on its U.K. website to make it more court-friendly.

The technology giant recently lost its appeal to a U.K. High Court to stay a previous ruling from July which said that Apple had to publish a notice on its U.K. Web site stating that rival Samsung did not copy its products, a result of the lengthy battle between rival electronics makers Apple and Samsung.

On Friday morning, the firm took the notice down after rival firm Samsung objected to its content and the court ordered Apple to take down the non-compliant statement and replace it with a more court-friendly and respectable version.

Instead of simply providing a link to a correct statement, Apple now has to keep the following message on its U.K. home page:

"On 25 October 2012, Apple Inc. published a statement on its UK website in relation to Samsung's Galaxy tablet computers. That statement was inaccurate and did not comply with the order of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The correct statement is at Samsung/Apple UK judgement."

Following the link, the new message reads:

"Samsung / Apple UK judgment

On 9 July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited’s Galaxy Tablet Computers, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple’s Community registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High Court is available from www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.

That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available from www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the Community registered design in force anywhere in Europe."

This is the same version of the statement that appeared yesterday in various U.K. newspapers.

It was left for us to guess whether the drier, shorter version that appeared in print was simply to keep the costs of apology down for the tech giant -- who had to pay for the advertising space out of its own pocket -- but it seems that the safer version of the 'apology' is here to stay.

According to the court's judgement, the court-friendly version of the statement must remain in place for one month.

Image credit: Tim Acheson