U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh issued a preliminary injunction instructing Samsung to halt sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the U.S. The injunction was sought by Apple as part of their lawsuit against Samsung for patent infringement involving the design of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Koh had previously declined to issue a preliminary injunction against Samsung. However, a federal appeals court directed Koh to reconsider the order. The injunction will not be effective until Apple posts a $2.6 Million bond to cover potential damages should Samsung ultimately prevail and it is shown the injunction should not have been issued.
Samsung has indicated they will likely appeal the ruling to a Washington, DC, federal appeals court which has exclusive jurisdiction over disputes involving intellectual property. Samsung did not anticipate the ruling would have a significant business impact due to their broad range of products, including other tablet models. Among those other models are the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 II, introduced last month, the successor model to the device that is the subject of the injunction. Retailers are still allowed to liquidate any existing stock they may have of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
This latest ruling involving Apple’s patent litigation comes a week after a judge in Chicago dismissed Apple’s patent claims against Google’s Motorola Mobility unit.
source: Reuters