BREAKING..U.S. Judge Lifts Ban on Samsung Tablet
October 1, 2012, 11:36 p.m. ET
By EVAN RAMSTAD
online.wsj.com
SEOUL—The judge overseeing the patent dispute between Apple Inc. AAPL -1.16% and Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +0.60% in a California federal court lifted a sales ban on a Samsung tablet computer after a jury in August found that the product didn't infringe an Apple patent.
Judge Lucy Koh issued the preliminary injunction June 26 after finding that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 likely violated an Apple patent on the design of a tablet computer.
"The jury has found otherwise," she wrote in the order issued late Monday in the U.S. "Thus, the sole basis for the June 26 preliminary injunction no longer exists."
The jury in August found Samsung violated six other Apple patents covering smartphones and tablet computers. It assigned a $1 billion damage award.
Samsung asked Judge Koh to lift the preliminary injunction immediately after the August verdict. But it also appealed the case to a higher court, leaving a question of jurisdiction over the injunction. Judge Koh initially deferred the matter to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which on Friday decided to let her decide whether the injunction should be lifted.
Apple had opposed lifting the injunction before Judge Koh takes action on post-trial motions by both it and Samsung. The two companies filed those motions Sept. 21, with Apple asking the judge to raise the jury's damage award and permanently block the sale of infringing Samsung products and those that are "no more than colorably different." Samsung asked her to eliminate the damage award and all sales bans on its products.
Judge Koh is expected to rule on the post-trial motions in early December. In lifting the temporary ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, she said she disagreed with Apple's push to wait for the ruling on the post-trial motions. "Even if Apple ultimately prevails on its post-trial motions, any permanent injunction would be prospective and not retrospective," she wrote.
A spokesman at Samsung's company headquarters in Seoul said that while the company has released newer versions of tablet PCs in recent months, there are likely still some Galaxy Tab 10.1 devices in dealer warehouses and retail inventory in the U.S. that can now be offered to consumers because of the judge's ruling.
Separately, Samsung said it added Apple's new iPhone 5 to a list of products it believes infringe its patents in a second case the two companies are fighting in the same California federal court. Samsung had said just after the new iPhone was unveiled on Sept. 12 that it was likely to take such a step.
That case is set for trial in March 2014 and is only in its preliminary stages. By adding the iPhone 5 to the list, Samsung can also seek a sales ban on it pending the outcome of the trial. Such bans have been difficult for either company to achieve, however, with Judge Koh's temporary ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 one of the few seen since the two companies' patent battle began in April last year. |
