Galaxy Tablet’s Fate in Question, Again
It’s been awhile since we’ve touched on Apple’s on-going legal dispute with rival Samsung over alleged patent infringement. We last left off with Apple having lost its request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung’s sale of the Galaxy 10.1 Tablets here in the US, however it now seems as though Samsung simply delayed the inevitable. Just today, Judge Lucy Koh — the same Judge who initially denied the preliminary injunction — ruled in favor of Apple to halt the sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 for violating the design patent after all.
So, how’d it come to this? Well, after having been accused of violating a patent signed by Steve Jobs himself, Samsung claimed the design in question could easily be traced back to two other patents already on file. The judge then denied Apple’s request for the preliminary injunction and Apple, of course, appealed the decision. After further inspection, an appeals court judge decided that the other two patents in question were too different to be related and that Apple’s claim had merit and thus Koh, having re-examined her decision, granted Apple’s injunction. Naturally Samsung will appeal the decision, but it’s not looking good. Should Apple win the trial, set to begin on July 30th, Samsung could be found liable for extensive damages. Personally, I’m fond of both companies, so I’d really like to see this resolved in an amicable manner — I just know that’s not likely.
[via PC mag]