Apple has won perhaps the most prominent victory in its multiyear battle over mobile patents: it has convinced a U.S. District Court judge to slap an injunction on sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets in the U.S. pending further review of the patent claims between the two companies.
Judge Lucy Koh issued the order late Tuesday. “In this case, although Samsung will necessarily be harmed by being forced to withdraw its product from the market before the merits can be determined after a full trial, the harm faced by Apple absent an injunction on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is greater,” Koh wrote in her ruling.
For years now, Apple and Samsung have been locked in a dispute over whether or not Samsung’s Android smartphones and tablets infringe on patents held by Apple for the iPhone and the iPad, the product being discussed in Koh’s ruling. It had seemed of late that the parties might find some accommodation in the wake of the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who swore to “destroy” Android, and more conciliatory comments about patent litigation in general by current Apple CEO Tim Cook.
But the injunction is a huge victory for Apple, even though Samsung hasn’t sold very many Galaxy Tab 10.1 units in the U.S. The ruling comes a week after Apple faced a setback in Chicago in its dispute with Motorola, now owned by Android creator Google.
Judge Koh’s order is embedded below.
Apple wins injunction on Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Judge Koh
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