Judge Koh: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned from sale in the US

Apple’s patent crusade against Samsung has finally resulted in the banning of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the U.S. – a year after the slate was launched, and since replaced by a successor, the Tab 2 10.1.

US District Judge Lucy Koh granted Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 on Tuesday, ahead of the scheduled Friday hearing on the injunction request.

Koh said that Apple has a strong case for the sales ban of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. — “While Samsung will certainly suffer lost sales from the issuance of an injunction, the hardship to Apple of having to directly compete with Samsung’s infringing products outweighs Samsung’s harm in light of the previous findings by the Court.”

We don’t know what’s changed between December 2011 and now. as that was when Koh herself denied the same injunction request from Apple against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The D’889 patent

Responding to their temporary victory against Samsung, Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet told AllThingsD that Samsung’s products – hardware, user interface, and packaging – look similar to the company’s iPhone and iPad. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

As expected, Samsung was not best pleased with the ruling and issued the following statement: “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.” Cupertino’s patent that Samsung allegedly infringed is the D’889 design patent, filed in 2004 and issued the following year, which basically shows a rectangular electronic device.

According to The Verge, Sammy has already appealed the ruling to the Federal court, so this isn’t the end of the long wrought battle. Though sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 haven’t exactly been significant in the US, going down without a fight is not an option for Samsung, as it might set a precedent to other patent battles that the company is currently embroiled in.

Apple’s plan to check mate the King – the Galaxy S3 – would come somewhat easier after first taking down the pawns, wouldn’t it?


This article, Judge Koh: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned from sale in the US , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com – Your Android News Source.

By | 2012-06-27T11:00:27+00:00 June 27th, 2012|Android Related, Just the Tablets|0 Comments

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