Apple’s Mandatory UK Ads May Benefit, Instead of Punish Them

When it comes to the world of technology and patents there are a lot of different things that can happen. This week the debate about design between Apple and Samsung has taken a new twist and this time the world of advertising has been brought into the fray. While courts in the US have ruled in favor of Apple, at least for now, their UK counterparts have seen the suit in a different light, and instead have made a most unusual ruling. They are requiring Apple to buy and run ads in Newspapers in the UK that say Samsung did not copy their designs.

The suit in question has been taking place in many nations, and the rulings have been going different directions, depending on the laws in the country and the perspective of the judges that the companies go before. The crux of the argument is over the similarities in design between the two devices, which Apple claims is illegal.

Now for the funny part. It turns out that ads for Samsung’s Galaxy tab have a bit of a wonky effect on consumer behavior. Research release by Randall Lewis and Dan Nguyen, two prominent economists; have shown behavior that may have the judge thinking twice about his decision. The research showed that when the Galaxy tab had its last big push for ads, with the Transformers movie, the ads generated more than 4000 extra searches for the Galaxy Tab and more than 800 for the iPad. So when all is said and done by making Apple by the ad space the judge may simply end up generating more sales for the Apple.

For now Apple has decided to appeal the decision and they may, when all is said and done, not have to put up the ads at all. But then again even if they do have to make good it could end up well for them anyway.