Samsung hires judge who upheld anti-Apple verdict: Report

Remember the Samsung vs Apple UK case that saw one of the most bizarre court rulings you'll ever come across? That's right, we're talking about the infamous case that concluded with Apple being ordered to run "Samsung didn't copy iPad" ads.

The original case was supervised by Judge Colin Birss who heard Apple's petition alleging that Samsung's Galaxy tablets had infringed its design. Judge Birss first ruled that Samsung couldn't have copied the iPad because its products were "not as cool" as Apple's. Later, the same judge ordered Apple to run "Samsung didn't copy iPad" ads on its website and various popular publications.

Apple appealed this decision but the original ruling was upheld by a bench comprising Sir Robin Jacob and two other judges. Sir Jacob, a retired judge who was invited to sit on the bench for the case, gave the first opinion for the court, dismissing Apple's appeal.

Apple complied with the order, issuing what many termed as a half-hearted "apology" on its website. The bench promptly asked Apple to follow its order strictly, and rewrite the notice on its website. Judge Jacob went on to question Apple's integrity, noting in his concluding remarks, "I hope that the lack of integrity involved in this incident is entirely atypical of Apple."

The same Sir Robin Jacob is now listed as one of nine experts "working on behalf of Respondents Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., and Samsung Telecommunications America LLC" in Samsung's reply to US International Trade Commission's investigation in to a patent infringement complaint filed by Ericsson against Samsung on November 30, 2012. This development was first reported by fosspatents.com.

As the original report notes, this may no doubt be within the letter of the law, but it's sure to raise a few eyebrows over at Cupertino.

Samsung, on its part, has issued the following statement. "Sir Robin Jacob is not a legal representative of Samsung Electronics. A highly reputed intellectual property expert and academic, Sir Robin has been contracted as an expert by a law firm that represents Samsung Electronics in its case against Ericsson."