U.S. Court Allows Selling of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Samsung is given the go signal to resume selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 following a U.S. court decision on late Monday to lift the preliminary injunction slapped on the tablet computer in June 2012.
In a new ruling issued yesterday, U.S. Federal Judge Lucy Koh has affirmed that the Samsung product was not covered in the patent case that Apple had won in August and the Asian firm's plea for the release of its product to the U.S. market must be granted.
"The jury has found otherwise ... and the sole basis for the June 26 preliminary injunction no longer exists," Judge Koh was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying on the fresh court order.
The court also dismissed Apple's assertion that the injunction should remain in effect at least until the post-trial motions have been resolved.
"Even if Apple ultimately prevails on its post-trial motions, any permanent injunction would be prospective and not retrospective," she wrote," Judge Koh added.
She reminded the tech giant that the Galaxy Tab 10.1, as per the jury decision in late August, was cleared of patent infringement, specifically that of the D899 patent exclusively owned by Apple.
"The court does not agree with Apple that Samsung's motion for dissolution of the June 26 preliminary injunction cannot be fairly decided without resolving Apple's post-trial motions," Reuters reported Judge Koh as saying on her decision.
In the process, the court has also decided to retain the $US2.6 million that Apple paid as bond, which Judge Koh had earlier required to cover for the Samsung's perceived losses in the event the court case had developed in favour of the South Korean tech firm.
"The question of whether Samsung was wrongfully enjoined is inextricably intertwined with the Court's resolution of the post-trial motions ... Accordingly, the Court will retain the bond pending resolution of the post-trial motions," Ars Technica quoted the court decision as saying.
The tech blog site hinted too that the Apple bond will likely be awarded to Samsung for the financial troubles caused by the pre-trial injunction.
In a statement, Samsung told Reuters that "an injunction was not called for," to begin with.
"We are pleased with the court's action today, which vindicates our position that there was no infringement of Apple's design patent," the company declared.
The decision was handed down as Samsung included the newly-issued iPhone 5 on a new legal suit that it has lodged against its fierce rival.
Samsung said on Tuesday that "we have little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights.
Apple had earlier upgraded its list of Samsung mobile phones that it argued should also be banned from the U.S. market, demanding too on its court filing that $US707 should be added on top of the $US1.04 billion that a U.S. jury said should be paid by Samsung to its American rival.