Judge Birss has ordered Apple to publish a notice on its website and in British newspapers admitting that Samsung did not 'copy' iPad.

Birss last week ruled that Samsung did not infringe Apple's designs because its Galaxy Tab tablets were not "as cool" as the U.S. company's iPad.

The notice, which is in effect an advertisement for Samsung, should remain on Apple's website for at least six months, the report said.

The judge, however, rejected Samsung's request that Apple be forbidden from continuing to claim that its design rights had been infringed, saying that Apple was entitled to hold the opinion, the news agency said.

Judge Colin Birss QC said: ‘They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool.’

He said consumers were not likely to get the two tablet computers mixed up and ruled the Samsung tablets do not infringe Apple’s registered design.

‘The informed user’s overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following: From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back,’ he said.

"Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited", Samsung said in a statement. Apple declined to comment on Judge Birss's instruction.