Apple iPad Vs Samsung Galaxy Tab: 'Not As Cool' As Apple's Tablet, Judge Says

Apple and Samsung, two of the leading manufacturers of mobile devices and electronics, have been engaged in a patent war concerning the companies' two respective tablets. A judge in the United Kingdom has ruled the Korea-based company's Galaxy Tab does not infringe on Apple's iPad design, according to the Verge.

In the ruling, UK judge Colin Biriss said Monday that the Samsung product does not conflict with Apple's device because it isn't as well-designed as the iPad. He said that the Galaxy Tab devices do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design.

They are not as cool, Biriss said in the ruling.

The court did find, however, that there were many striking similarities between Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab, saying that the view from the front is really very striking. The Galaxy tablets are not identical to the Apple design but they are very, very similar in this respect. But the design found on the back of the gadgets and the thinness of the Galaxy tablets was enough to differentiate the two when it came to the infringement case.

Apple is also in the process of battling patent lawsuits with HTC, and Samsung has issued the following statement according to Bloomberg:

Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited, Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung said to Bloomberg in an email.

According to the judgment, Samsung asked a UK court to rule that its Galaxy Tablets were not too similar to devices created by Steve Jobs and Apple's design chief Jonathan Ive, to which Apple filed a counter-claim. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has sought injunctions in countries such as the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands to place a ban on Samsung's tablets.

Last week, a San Jose court granted temporary injunctions against the sale of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone, the Daily Mail reported.

Samsung is disappointed with the court's decision that denied our motion to stay. We believe today's ruling will ultimately reduce the availability of superior technological features to consumers in the United States, Samsung said in a statement, according to the Mail.

Samsung has also appealed to a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., which has jurisdiction over intellectual property disputes. An Apple spokeswoman has supported the company's stance on the Galaxy Tab products, saying Apple needs to guard its designs for devices.

This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we've said many times before, we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas, the spokeswoman said.