“A U.S. judge on Tuesday backed Apple Inc’s request to stop Samsung Electronics selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the United States, giving the iPhone maker a significant win in the global smartphone and tablet patent wars,” Dan Levine reports for Reuters. “Samsung’s Galaxy touchscreen tablets, powered by Google’s Android operating system, are considered by many industry experts to be the main rival to the iPad, though they are currently a distant second to Apple’s device.”
“U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, had previously denied Apple’s bid for an injunction on the tablet and multiple Galaxy smartphones. However, a federal appeals court instructed Koh to reconsider Apple’s request on the tablet,” Levine reports. “‘Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly, by flooding the market with infringing products,’ Koh wrote on Tuesday.”
Levine reports, “Samsung will likely seek to appeal Koh’s ruling to a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, which has exclusive jurisdiction over intellectual property disputes. ‘Apple sought a preliminary injunction of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, based on a single design patent that addressed just one aspect of the product’s overall design,’ Samsung said in a statement. ‘Should Apple continue to make legal claims based on such a generic design patent, design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted.’ Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet reiterated a prior statement from the company, saying Samsung’s ‘blatant copying’ is wrong.”
“Samsung, which has various tablet line-ups with different sizes from 7 inches to 10.1 inches, introduced the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in June last year and unveiled an upgraded version, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 II, last month,” Levine reports. “The company said the U.S. ruling does not affect the updated Tab 10.1 II, and retailers can also clear their existing Tab 10.1 inventories.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, after all of this rigmorole, Apple has finally achieved the import ban of an old product that has already been superseded by the next version, which is not banned.
The legal system is not equipped to adequately address blatant copying in the technology sector.
Crime pays. Nothing meaningful was restricted whatsoever. In Seoul, Samsung shares rose 3 percent in a flat market.
The way for Apple to actually get some real justice is to – gasp! – stop doing billions of dollars of business with a thief.
As for Samsung’s claims of “design innovation,” judge for yourself. Apple’s products came first, then Samsung’s:
Related articles:
Apple wins preliminary injunction against Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet – June 26, 2012
Düsseldorf court denies preliminary injunction against Galaxy Tab 10.1N: Design-around pays off for Samsung – February 9, 2012
Apple loses bid to get preliminary ban on Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N, Nexus Phone in Germany – February 1, 2012
German court leans toward letting Samsung distribute Galaxy Tab 10.1 N – December 22, 2011
Apple petitions German court to ban a fourth Samsung Galaxy Tab: The 10.1N model – November 29, 2011
Samsung relaunches modified Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany – November 16, 2011
Samsung appeals Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban in German court – September 13, 2011
German court upholds Apple complaint: Bans Samsung Galaxy Tab from sale in Europe’s largest market – September 9, 2011
