Samsung contracts UK ex-judge that ruled against Apple

Samsung has contracted the judge that once forced Apple to make a public apology. If you remember back, this case dates back to November 2012 and was the one that resulted in Apple having to post a notice on its homepage stating that Samsung did not copy the design of the iPad. The interesting part here, the judge, Sir Robin Jacob then ordered Apple to repost that message so it was a bit more clear. Previous history aside, Samsung has since contracted this same person.

It should be made clear, this case and the work Sir Robin Jacob is doing with Samsung does not involve Apple. Instead this is for a case involving Ericsson. Jacob will be acting as an expert in an investigation regarding a patent infringement case against Samsung. Ericsson is looking to get a US import ban on several Samsung devices.

The judge, who has since retired will be included in a group of nine experts. It has not yet been revealed in what way he will be advising Samsung. While nobody has suggested that the judge was on Samsung’s payroll at the time of the decision and he is not in any way barred from taking such a role with Samsung, it does appear to have sparked some controversy.

This could end up being nothing more than a PR mess, however Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents did bring an interesting point. Mueller has said this may bring a potential for allegations suggesting that this may be a reward for that earlier decision. We suspect this will end up being more of a PR mess than anything, but we also suspect that this will not be the last we here about this matter.

[Update] To help clarify the situation, Samsung has offered a 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.”

[via FOSS Patents]