U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh has rejected Samsung’s motion to stay the Galaxy Tab ban this evening. Koh handed down the injunction ruling last week, citing “clear patent infringement.”
Apple has already posted a $2.6 million bond to push the ban into effect. So as it stands right now, it looks like Samsung will soon have to stop selling its marquee tablet in the United States…
Samsung has one last chance to avoid the injunction — federal appeals court. The Washington D.C.-based court has exclusive jurisdiction over intellectual property disputes, and can overrule Koh’s ruling.
Samsung gave the following statement to AllThingsD regarding tonight’s decision:
“Samsung is disappointed with the court’s decision that denied our motion to stay. We believe today’s ruling will ultimately reduce the availability of superior technological features to consumers in the United States. Regardless, we will continue to pursue a request for an appeal of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 preliminary injunction, which we filed on June 26 to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.”
Apple won a similar injunction last Friday against Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus handset. It’s already filed a motion to stay that injunction as well, but we don’t expect to hear anything on it for at least a week.
Of course, in all reality, these are fairly old products. What would really hurt Samsung is if these injunctions spilled over into its new Galaxy S III line. And given the evidence, that seems like a very likely possibility.
If you’re getting tired of all of the patent talk, join the club. But the ramifications of these lawsuits will not only affect Samsung and Apple, but could change the entire landscape of the mobile consumer market.
When Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone 5 years ago, he said “and boy have we patented it,” knowing full well that Apple would have to fight to defend its invention(s). And it looks like he was right.
[Reuters]