Apple filed an opposition on Tuesday to Samsung's motion to lift the U.S. ban on Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet sales. Apple won the preliminary injunction months ago as part of its ongoing legal battle with Samsung over mobile device patent infringement claims.
Apple want's Galaxy Tab 10.1 injunction to stay in place
Samsung has been pushing to get the injunction lifted ever since Apple's big courtroom win last month where a jury ruled the electronics maker was willfully infringing on several Apple patents. As part of that ruling, however, the jury said Samsung wasn't infringing on the iPad-related patents included in the complaint -- which also happen to be the patents Apple used when requesting its preliminary injunction.
Despite the jury's ruling, Samsung may some trouble convincing Judge Lucy Koh, the Judge overseeing the case, to remand the injunction thanks to earlier comments the company made.
"When Judge Koh denied Samsung's request to stay the injunction a few months ago, she referred to Samsung's statements on the absence of major harm, for example, "that 'sales of the accused Galaxy Tab 10.1 will soon fall to zero' because it is near 'the end of its product lifecycle,' and that the injunction would not have 'a significant impact' on its business since 'the successor model to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is already on the market,'" said Florian Mueller of Foss Patents. "Apple's brief today notes that Samsung wanted to have those passages redacted, but Judge Koh decided that these should be in the public record."
Mr. Mueller pointed out that Samsung's earlier statements contradict its motion for a stay in the injunction, and may work in Apple's favor. Assuming Apple can keep the court from issuing a ruling quickly, Samsung's chances of convincing a court to lift the ban diminish since the company went on record saying it wouldn't have much impact on product sales.
As part of the jury's ruling Apple was awarded over US$1 billion in damages. Samsung is working to get the infringement ruling overturned.