Samsung’s appeal to a US court to lift the ban on the sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 stands rejected even as it continues to prepare for a crucial upcoming trial against Apple. This is Samsung’s third legal setback in a week.
Samsung and Apple have been involved in patent disputes in 10 countries, with both leading companies accusing each other of infringing upon each other’s patents, each trying to assert their dominance over the smartphone market. Judge Lucy Koh had passed an order on 26th June, banning the sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in US favoring Apple’s case. A pre-trial ban was also placed on Samsung’s Nexus phone earlier this week. Since the order was passed, Samsung had filed for an appeal, requesting to lift the ban on its tablets until the trial was completed. However, its request has been rejected by the US court. Apple has accused Samsung of blatantly copying the designs of the iPhone and the iPad, while Samsung continues to deny having done so. Apple has stated time and again that it is essential to protect their intellectual property and they will not tolerate companies stealing their ideas. Apple has also requested for a ban to be placed on Samsung’s newly released Galaxy S III smartphones. The trial between the two companies is set to commence from 30th July.
Upgraded versions of the tablet and the smartphone in question have been released and therefore the ban may not impact Samsung’s earning significantly. However, since usually pre-trial bans are hardly granted, facing a ban on two of their devices will most certainly cause Samsung significant losses. Samsung, disappointed by the ruling, believes that the injunction will cut down on choices of devices with superior technological features available to the consumers in US. However, Samsung still has a chance left to get the injunction lifted as they are now appealing to federal courts in Washington with exclusive jurisdiction over disputes concerning intellectual property rights.
Samsung’s Galaxy tablets have the potential to give Apple’s iPad tough competition and are currently second best to Apple devices in the market. While Apple sold 13.6 million iPads, contributing 63 percent towards the tablet market in the first quarter, Samsung managed to sell 1.6 million tablets contributing 7.5 percent to the tablet market. Google and Microsoft have their own tablets to add to the competition.
