Apple ordered to advertise for Samsung

Remember when that mother made her son hold a sign reading "I am a thief" on a public street corner? A UK judge is now kind of making Apple do the same thing.

Judge Colin Birss is ordering Apple to publish announcements that Samsung did not copy the design of its iPad, Bloomberg News reported. The notice, to be published for six months on Apple's UK home page and in newspapers and magazines, must detail Birss' ruling and correct any impression that Samsung copied Apple. The order means that Apple will be forced to publish “an advertisement” for Samsung, an Apple lawyer complained, according to Bloomberg. 

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Apple and Samsung have been suing each other in about a dozen countries as they compete for dominance in the tablet and smart phone markets, Reuters reported. Apple has long accused Samsung of "slavishly" copying the iPhone and iPad tablet design.

In the latest ruling, Judge Birss found Apple's copy-cat accusations to be untrue, and demanded that Apple publish ads saying so.

But in a minor victory for Apple, he also knocked the design of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets in explaining his decision: "They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool. The overall impression produced is different," the ruling says.  

"Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited," Samsung announced in a statement after the ruling, according to BBC News.