Apple wins temporary ban on Tab 10.1 in the US

Judge Lucy Koh has ruled in advance of the scheduled hearing over Apple’s request for a ban on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. 

Her decision, released in the last hour, has followed the appeals court determination that she revisit her previous finding that a temporary injunction was unjustified on the basis that the patent allegedly infringed upon was likely to be found valid, contradicting Judge Koh’s view of that same patent.

The patent in question is the “design” one that's commonly known as “black rectangle with rounded corners” in the blogosphere. Assuming that the patent’s validity would be upheld, the appeals court found that the District Court Judge, having acknowledged Samsung to have infringed it by marketing a device “virtually indistinguishable” from Apple’s iPad, should reconsider the case for injunctive relief.

Apple vs Motorola patent case back on

Despite his earlier tentative decision to end the patent action in a Chicago court, Judge Posner changed his mind and has confirmed he will hear Apple’s plea for injunctive relief against several Motorola mobile phones.

The judge’s earlier pronouncement was that any injunction would be contrary to the public interest, effectively scuppering Apple’s attempt to have its competitor’s devices banned in the US. Apple immediately objected to that ruling, and after weighing up the options and consequences, Judge Posner has agreed to allow the two sides to make their case for injunctions.

Apple attempts to have Galaxy S III banned in USA

Alarmed by reports of more than 9 million pre-orders of Samsung’s spectacularly popular and in-demand Galaxy S III, and by its imminent launch in the US, Apple has declared its intention to seek an injunction against the handset. Before the San Diego California court, Apple’s lawyers announced that the company would likely file for injunctive relief, in effect a ban on US sales of the S3, on Friday.

Apple fails to get US injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1

Having previously failed in a California district court to have Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned for alleged patent infringement, Apple applied to the US Court of Appeals in Washington to overturn the decision and thus obtain a permanent ban of the iPad competitor. The appeals court found that a single element of Apple’s case, that of patent “D889”, might warrant reconsideration and directed Judge Lucy Koh to do so.

Apple tries to get Galaxy Tab 10.1N banned now...

In an apparent case of déja vu, Apple has applied for and been granted a hearing at the Duesseldorf Regional Court on a preliminary injunction to prevent sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N, just introduced on the German market.

The banned Galaxy Tab 10.1

Having succeeded in having the Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned the first time around, Apple's legal eagles are apprently feeling confident that the modified tablet will also suffer the same fate, and Samsung will be forced to stop selling the new hardware in Germany. It doesn't stop there though. There's a probability that Apple will demand a ruling that prevents the 10.1N being sold anywhere in the European Union.

Although Apple would obviously prefer the ban to be immediate, the hearing has been set down for December 22, too late to stop sales prior to the important Christmas shopping season. In the meantime, the pending hearing will have "no effect on sales and distribution of the product" according to an oddly optimistic Samsung.