UK appeals court orders Apple to pay Samsung's legal fees

Previously on Patent Wars -- Apple sues Samsung in the UK over alleged copying of its iPad design, loses, appeals, loses again, and is ordered to publish statements in leading publications and its on own website indicating that Samsung didn't infringe upon its registered design. Only Apple's initial (and rather passive-aggressive) statement, referencing legal victories in other countries, saw it falling foul of the British judiciary. In recent weeks, a revised statement appeared on Apple's site and in some UK newspapers.
Now the Court of Appeals of England and Wales has ordered Apple to pay all of the costs of Samsung's legal defense on an indemnity basis, on account of the court's "disapproval of [Apple's] conduct." Today's judgment reads --

As to the costs (lawyers' fees) to be awarded against Apple, we concluded that they should be on an indemnity basis. 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.

The judgment also deconstructs Apple's original statement line-by-line, variously describing it as "false and misleading" and "calculated to produce huge confusion," and taking particular issue with references to rulings in Apple's favor in Germany and the U.S. As such, Apple must now open its wallet, in addition to continuing to display the legally-mandated statement on its UK site.
The revised statement must remain on Apple's site for one month.

Source: Balilii; via: The Verge

Via: UK appeals court orders Apple to pay Samsung's legal fees