Apple must run ads saying Samsung didn't copy iPad

A British judge has ordered Apple to publish on its own website a statement asserting that Samsung didn't copy the design of the iPad.

Last week, Judge Colin Birss amused many by declaring Samsung's hardware not "cool" enough to be mistaken for one of Apple's products.

Birss has again surprised watchers of the mobile patent war, this time by ordering Apple to publish a note on its own website and British newspapers, in order to set the record straight that Samsung didn't copy the iPad.

The notice must stay on the Apple website for six months and run in four publications, according to a draft copy of the order handed by Samsung's legal team to Bloomberg.

However, Judge Birss refused to Samsung's request to ban Apple from publicly accusing its rival of imitation, saying "they are entitled to their opinion".

Apple wouldn't comment on the decision, but in court the company's lawyer noted that "no company likes to refer to a rival on its website", according to the Bloomberg report.

Similar battles are being fought between the two in patent courts around the world, after Apple accused its rival of "slavishly" copying its tablet design.

By Nicole Kobie