Although we haven’t heard about it as much as we have in recent times, the ongoing patents wars between the world’s top technology companies is bubbling away in the background, with Apple and Samsung still managing to find themselves at the front of it all. Continuing with the legal battle we have become familiar with over the last twelve months, Apple have found themselves on the positive end of an initial ruling across the pond.
In a United States district court, residing judge Lucy Koh has taken the decision to grant the Cupertino-based company a preliminary injunction against Samsung. The injunction is a bitter blow for the Korean electronics firm Samsung and relates to sales of the company’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the US. It appears that the judge has taken the decision due to the fact that she believes Apple has presented enough evidence to show that sales of the device present a case of “irreparable harm” mainly due to the fact that Apple could lose substantial market share.
This ruling represents a second major victory in the patent war for Apple in the last couple of days as the same judge banned Samsung from selling their Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the US. The legal dispute and the cause of Apple’s concern seems to be centered around four patents which the company holds, with more attention being focused on patent number 8086604, which is basically a way of searching for information that is held in a centralized database, as well as the slide to unlock patent.
Judge Koh has been heavily involved in the last few days as she also cleared Apple of the claim that they were infringing upon one of Samsung’s patents. With both companies being seriously big players in the smartphone and tablet industries, neither wants to find themselves in a situation where they have to stop selling their ware in any country. Apple will obviously be happy with this initial ruling, but as we have seen in the past, there is a good chance that Samsung will successfully appeal the decision, allowing the Galaxy Nexus to once again be sold in the US until a final outcome is reached at a trial.
Regardless of the final outcome, this is a clear indication that both companies are prepared to take whatever action necessary to protect their own interests.
(via Reuters)
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