Samsung Hires UK Judge Who Ruled Against Apple

The international patent war between Samsung and Apple continues to drag on, and now it’s taken a highly unusual turn. One of the British judges who ruled against Apple has been hired as an expert witness by Samsung’s lawyers.

Apple Insider’s Kevin Bostic reported, “The UK judge who ordered Apple to issue multiple statements saying that Samsung didn’t copy the design of the iPad has been hired on by Samsung to act as an expert in an ITC investigation.”

Alistair Charlton with The International Business Times noted, “Last October a UK appeals court led by The Rt. Hon. Professor Sir Robin Jacob and two fellow judges upheld the ruling that Apple must publicly acknowledge that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 did not copy the design and look of Apple’s iPad. Widely reported as an apology, the acknowledgment had to be published by Apple on its UK website and in various print publications”

Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents observed, “In a ruling on Apple’s first attempt to comply with the publicity order, Sir Robin Jacob even noted a ‘lack of integrity.’ For someone so concerned with ‘integrity’ it is utterly unusual to issue a high-profile and extreme ruling in favor of a particular party (Samsung in this case) only to be hired as an expert by that same party in another dispute.”

Meanwhile, the patent lawsuits continued to make their way through the courts. According to Reuters, “A Tokyo court on Thursday ruled in favor of Apple Inc in a patent lawsuit over mobile devices filed by Samsung Electronics, the South Korean firm said.”