Apple’s Samsung Ban Request Denied

Samsung (KRX:005930) has scored an important win in its lawsuit with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) over patent infringement as US Federal judge Lucy Koh denied a legal request by Apple to ban US sales of Samsung smartphones models violating Apple’s patents. The ruling could be a turning point for the legal struggle between the who companies, which reached its peak back in August, when the Iphone producer was awarded $1.05 billion in damages by an American court after a jury found that Samsung had wilfully copied critical features of both the Iphone and the Ipad (a ruling that the consumer electronics company has challenged).

**Motion denied**
Judge Koh’s decision against Apple’s request for a permanent ban over the US sales of eight Samsung smartphone models comes as part of a series of rulings that Ms. Koh is releasing over a period of several weeks regarding various legal issues raised in the case. Koh expressed her motives for this particular ruling, stating that there was not enough evidence that the infringed patents has had a negative effect on the sales of Apple in the US. According to her the models in question “contain a broad range of features” with only a handful of those features being covered by Apple’s patents. Koh acknowledged that Apple has an interest in keeping certain features exclusive to its products, but argued that this doesn’t provide enough grounds to justify a ban.

!m[US Federal Judge Rules In Favour Of South Korean Giant](/uploads/story/1061/thumbs/pic1_inline.png)
The ruling will provide some relief for the South Korean Company, which is engaged in legal battles with Apple in a number of countries across the world, including a second lawsuit in the US, scheduled for 2014. Other positive news for the consumer electronics giant is that earlier this month Judge Koh gave some indication that she may trim the earlier $1 billion penalty verdict awarded against Samsung although it’s not clear by how much.

**In the rest of the world**
Whilst the legal battle between Apple and Samsung in the US continues, the South Korean company has earned wins over its American rival in several key markets overseas. In July, British Judge Colin Birss found that Samsung’s Galaxy tablets weren’t too similar to Apple’s tablets, leaving Apple unable to stop the import of the Galaxy Tab 10 in the UK. Part of his reasoning was that Samsung’s tablets “are not as cool” as the Ipad. Apple lost its appeal against the ruling in October, when the Court of Appeal confirmed that Samsung did not infringe the Ipad’s design.
Other big markets where the consumer electronics giant has been granted favourable rulings are Japan and South Korea.