In a significant win for Samsung against rival Apple in their legal war, a judge has just ordered the Cupertino, California-based iPad-maker to advertise that Samsung did not copy the design of their massively-popular tablet computer.

High Court of Justice, Chancery Division Judge Colin Birss has ordered Apple to run a notice on its website in the UK as well as high-circulation publications saying that Samsung did not copy the design of the iPad.

In his order, the judge told Apple to basically outline the July 9 ruling of the High Court absolving Samsung of Apple’s allegation that the Suwon, South Korea-based consumer electronics powerhouse violated Apple’s Registered Community Design No. 181607-0001 in the U.K. with the design of its Galaxy Tab range of tablet computers, , Bloomberg reports.

This is apparently to protect the reputation of Samsung as the court has decided that Samsung did not rip-off the design of the iPad.

Nonetheless, that same ruling may have inadvertently dinged Samsung’s reputation as the judge said then that the Galaxy Tab range does not infringe on the iPad design because the Samsung tablets are “not as cool” as the iPad.

In the ruling, Judge Birss said that the Samsung Galaxy Tab computers “do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design.”

“They are not as cool,” he said then.

In a statement after the ruling was handed down, Samsung said then that it “believes Apple’s excessive legal claims based on such a generic design right can harm not only the industry’s innovation as a whole, but also unduly limit consumer choice.”

The South Korean tech giant requested the court to bar Apple from publicly stating that Samsung has copied the iPad design but the judge rejected the request saying that Apple has the right to tell the world its opinion.

Nonetheless, Apple must – for six months – publish the notice that Samsung did not copy the iPad design on its UK website. Furthermore, the notice must also be published by Apple in “the Financial Times, the Daily Mail, Guardian Mobile magazine, and T3,” Bloomberg says.

Apple has protested the order with its lawyer saying it’s tantamount to running an advertisement for its rival Samsung. “No company likes to refer to a rival on its website,” the company’s lawyer argued.

Apple has, nonetheless, been granted permission to take the order and the July 9 iPad ruling to a court of appeal for reconsideration.

Images 1 & 2 from carnero.cc & dno1967b on Flickr (CC)

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .