John Paczkowski

Recent Posts by John Paczkowski

U.K. Court Slams Apple Over Samsung Notice

Apple’s cheeky handling of a U.K. court ruling ordering it to publicly recant allegations that Samsung copied the design of the iPad for its own Galaxy tablet has drawn the ire of the court that issued it.

Arguing that Apple crafted its notice of apology to Samsung specifically to undermine its intended effect, the England and Wales Court of Appeal said the company failed to comply with its mandate. It ordered Apple to revise its statement, which included excerpts from a court ruling describing Samsung’s products as uncool, and a mention of others in which Samsung was found to have violated Apple’s intellectual property. And, as punishment for allegedly adding inaccurate text to an otherwise straightforward notice, it said Apple must pay Samsung’s legal fees.

“What Apple added was false and misleading,” the court said in its decision. “There is a false innuendo that the U.K. court’s decision is at odds with decisions in other countries whereas that is simply not true.”

So, as entertaining as it was, Apple’s petulant apology has ended up costing the company in the end. And not just financially. It has clearly cost it some goodwill from the U.K. court, which went out of its way to call out what it viewed as bad behavior.

“As to the costs (lawyers’ fees) to be awarded against Apple, we concluded that they should be on an indemnity basis,” the court wrote. “Such a basis (which is higher than the normal, ‘standard’ basis) can be awarded as a mark of the court’s disapproval of a party’s conduct, particularly in relation to its respect for an order of the court. Apple’s conduct warranted such an order. … I hope that the lack of integrity involved in this incident is entirely atypical of Apple.”

Twitter’s Tanking

December 30, 2013 at 6:49 am PT

2013 Was a Good Year for Chromebooks

December 29, 2013 at 2:12 pm PT

BlackBerry Pulls Latest Twitter for BB10 Update

December 29, 2013 at 5:58 am PT

Apple CEO Tim Cook Made $4.25 Million This Year

December 28, 2013 at 12:05 pm PT

Latest Video

View all videos »

Search »

There was a worry before I started this that I was going to burn every bridge I had. But I realize now that there are some bridges that are worth burning.

— Valleywag editor Sam Biddle