OSNews

Hm, ~"UK judge confirms: Samsung tablets inferior to iPad"? (you know such twist is possible... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law )

I wonder how prominent the notice must be - maybe it will end up among the most cost-effective advertisement campaigns, for Samsung? (would be even better if, down the line, it turns out as the beginning of some larger trend, like UK consumers really recognizing and adopting Samsung/Android tablets)

I don't think the notice will have much effect. They can probably write it in such a convoluted way that almost nobody will bother reading/understanding it.

Still, it's going to be hilarious.

Unfortunately, if the previous Italian ruling about insurance is anything to go by (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/27/apple_italy/), this won't be the full page Samsung advert you're hoping for!

When the Italian courts required Apple to post a notice on its website, it was apparently covered by the highlighted link text you can (just about) see here:

http://twitpic.com/8c7dmx

It'd be great if the message had to be made really clearly, but as with newspaper retractions and corrections, they always seem to end up being a little disappointing!

I saw a similar article a few days ago and my reaction was complete and utter silence at the display of epic stupidity taking place. It is really getting to the point now that in the future Microsoft appears to be a lot more mature when it comes to matters of patents. Sure, people may not agree here when it comes to the royalties paid by Android vendors to Microsoft but at least Microsoft were willing to sit down and negotiate where as Apple is just banging their fists like a spoilt child demanding that Android to have 90% of its functionality stripped out.

I've always thought that Microsoft and Apple were very similar in douchbag behaviour but it appears that I was wrong. Where as Microsoft will invoke patents but negotiate to a settlement where as on the other hand we have Apple refusing to negotiate, refusing to even accept an offer where by the said technologies are licensed at a reasonable price with both sides coming out happy. I wish there was some way to force Apple to accept a court mandated licence - $1 per device with unlimited access to all Apple patented technologies. Such a settlement would ensure that in future Apple negotiates and comes to a settlement or otherwise a court settlement would be imposed upon them.

Edit: As a die hard Apple user this maybe my last Apple product. I can accept there will be cases where companies will accuses each other of patent violations but most will settle out of court, come to an agreement and the world moves on. Sorry but although I have no personal relationship it does make my cringe that I'm associated with such a pack of douchbags every time I turn on my Mac. For all the faults of Microsoft at least they're mature and behaving like a mature company such as IBM and HP etc. Lenovo have some great computers (Thinkpad and Thinkstation) along with the Surface appearing soon - then couple that with Office 2013 and integration with the Microsoft cloud services, Apple is making it very difficult for someone like me to be a repeat purchaser of their products. Yes, I'd even jetison my iPhone in favour of a Windows Phone 8 device too.

Edited 2012-07-19 05:01 UTC

Unfortunately, MS might only continue with such a business strategy while their products are still struggling in the market. Any attempt by MS now to squeeze competitors out of the market would only suit Apple. Also, recently they have been using Nokia to do the dirty work of patent litigation. MS may change their strategy after their competing products does gain some significant ground or if Nokia does go under.

It's not that I like this patent crap either, but if Apple didn't patent the disappearing scroll bar, then someone else would and would sue them / try to block their products. The system is just a friggin' mess. I'm fully aware the none of the big companies are trying to change it since they happen to be the only ones with enough money to abuse other companies (i.e. this helps keep small companies down because they can't afford to play in this sandbox), but it isn't specifically Apple.

In terms of thinking Microsoft is more mature: Were you too young to follow the antitrust lawsuits and why they were happening? Combining dominant market position with incompatible networking / file formats / APIs, forced bundling of their OS, wholesale theft of technologies, etc. doesn't strike me as the example I'd use. The government has them on a tight(er) leash today. If Apple had a 90+% ownership of smartphones / PCs / whatever, you'd be more likely to see the government step in - they get somewhat freer reign because they're not by any definition in a monopoly position.

Anyway, I saw this ruling and thought it was a joke: The backs of the devices are distinguishable. Really? That's from a supposedly educated judge?

Ugh, actually I wish that the authorities would enforce that particular patent so that Ubuntu is forced to stop using those ridiculous disappearing scroll bars by default on their desktop OS!