Half Victory for Apple in Federal Court Decision on Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
iPad 2-manufacturer Apple only won half of the battle with Samsung Electronics when it was granted by Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett on Thursday a temporary injunction that stops the South Korean firm from launching the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia.
In the same decision, Ms Bennett rejected Apple's request that Samsung give it advanced copies of any tablet that the rival firm would launch in Australia. With this decision, Samsung could release an identical tablet computer with a different name.
"Samsung says Galaxy Tab 10.1, we say any tablet device.... We know what may well come is another version of the tablet. It's up to our friends as to how they name it, whether they call it the Galaxy Tab 10.1 or 10.2 or 10.1s or whatever it happens to be," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Apple's lawyer.
However, Samsung's lawyer turned down Apple's request because it could be a blanket ban which could affect even the sale of existing gadgets made by the South Korean tech giant such as the Galaxy Tab 7 or 10.1v.
"Why should Samsung be put in a different position to any other trader in the marketplace, which is to give advanced warning so as to confer some process of effective pre-approval in the hands of the competitor?" Samsung's lawyer countered.
Ms Bennett favored Samsung and said that Apple could rely on pre-announcements by Samsung about future products.
Telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said the court's grant of a temporary injunction sought by Apple is a short-term victory for the company founded by Steve Jobs, but a long-term loss.
"I can clearly see that Apple has a case that it has created some innovative new technology, but on the other hand the reality is we live in an open world and you cannot because of one innovation stop the rest of the world in going in similar directions," Mr Budde told The Wall Street Journal.
To indicate how bitter is the legal dispute between the former business partners and now rivals, Samsung opened a pop-up store which is 10 minutes away from Ms Bennett's court. It is also a few outlets away from Apple's Sydney store where the company is launching on Friday its iPhone 4S in Australia.
Samsung is selling its Galaxy S2 smartphone, launched in Australia in June, in the pop-up store for only A$2. Both Apple and Samsung Sydney stores have queues at its storefronts since Tuesday.
