In the decision of the British Supreme Court, the judge Colin stated that the 'tablets' Samsung Galaxy belong to the same family as the Apple design when viewed from the front, but Samsung's products are "very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family, unusual details on the back. "
"They have the same extreme sobriety and simplicity that has Apple's design. They are so cool," said the magistrate. "The general impression is different," he added.
Victory for Samsung comes days after a U.S. appeals court lifted a freeze on sales of its smartphones Galaxy Nexus, whilst maintaining a lower court decision to temporarily suspend sales of its tablet Galaxy 10.1.
Both companies are pursuing legal battles in some 10 countries, accusing each other of violating patents, while seeking supremacy in the mobile device market.
Samsung has welcomed the decision of the British Supreme Court, which in its opinion confirms their own intellectual property rights while respecting those of other companies.
"If Apple continues to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on this type of generic designs, innovation in the industry could be damaged and consumer choice, too limited," Samsung said in a statement.
Apple has said that no comments to make on the court decision on Monday, but reiterated its outlook on South Korea's signature designs.
"It is no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look very similar to iPhone and iPad, from the way of hardware to the user interface and even the packaging," stated Apple.
"This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we have said many times before, we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas," he added.
