Samsung allowed to sell Galaxy Tab in U.S. as court lifts ban

A U.S. court removed a temporary sales
ban against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s
Galaxy Tab 10.1 won by Apple Inc in a
patent dispute, allowing the South Korean
company to sell the product in the United
States.
While the Galaxy 10.1 is an older model, the
lifting of the ban could still help Samsung in the
run-up to the pivotal holiday shopping season.
“We are pleased with the court’s action today,
which vindicates our position that there was no
infringement of Apple’s design patent and that
an injunction was not called for,” Samsung said
in a statement.
Separately, Samsung filed a motion against
Apple saying the iPhone 5 had infringed on
some of the company’s patents.
The world’s top two smartphone makers are
locked in patent disputes in 10 countries as they
vie to dominate the lucrative market.
The legal fight began last year when Apple sued
Samsung in multiple countries, and Samsung
countersued.
The injunction on the Galaxy tablet had been
put in place ahead of a month-long trial that
pitted the iPhone maker against Samsung in a
closely watched legal battle that ended in
August with a victory for Apple on many of its
patent violation claims.
However, the jury found that Samsung had not
violated the patent that was the basis for the
tablet injunction and Samsung argued the sales
ban should be lifted.
The sole basis for the preliminary injunction no
longer exists since the jury found that
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab had not violated Apple’s
D’889 patent.
“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,”
Judge Lucy Koh said in her ruling.
Apple could not immediately be reached for
comment outside regular U.S. business hours.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District
of California, is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics
Co Ltd et al, No. 11-1846.