Apple’s U.S. Injunction against Galaxy Tab Granted

[Akshay Masand]

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh granted Apple’s request to block sales of Samsung’s iPad competitor, the Galaxy Tab. The decision comes one week after a Samsung petition to rehear the patent case was denied.

According to Koh, “although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly, by flooding the market with infringing products.” The report shows that the injunction will be effective once Apple has put up a $2.6 million bond set aside for Samsung if the sales ban is later found to have been in error.

The Cupertino California company won an appeal from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last month that reopened the company’s bid for a sales ban against its rival. The court disagreed with Koh’s ruling of Apple’s design patent being “obvious” Following the appeal; Apple re-filed its motion against the Galaxy Tab. At this point, Apple was told that it would have to wait until the formal ruling from the CAFC was handed down to the District Court. Samsung tried to argue that its 4G tablet was not competing directly with the 3G-equipped iPad 2 but the line of reasoning proved to have no effect.

The recent injunction represents a significant win for Apple in the U.S. Previously, Apple successfully argued for temporary injunctions in Australia and Germany. Samsung managed to dodge the injunction in Germany by releasing the redesigned Galaxy Tab 10.1N while the Australian ban was overturned last November. The battle between the two tech giants will continue but for now, Apple managed to take the lead.

Source: Reuters

[NakedFaerie]

There is NOTHING similar between the 2 devices except they are both tablets.
They both look different and run different OS's.
This is just Apples way of killing off the competition. I think the judge was paid off for this to go forward.

More proof Apple dont know how to play nice and are b@#$%ards.

[turdsmoka]

There is NOTHING similar between the 2 devices except they are both tablets.
They both look different and run different OS's.
This is just Apples way of killing off the competition. I think the judge was paid off for this to go forward.

More proof Apple dont know how to play nice and are b@#$%ards.

That, and you don't know what a patent is make you an expert on this subject.

[dxe]

this decision was based on a design patent - not a technical patent.... The mere fact that they look similar may be enough for design patent infringment

[hank197857]

whatever ... play it smart and buy stock in both companies. ah, is there any such thing as samsung stock?

[hogcia]

Another patent ******** story? Z z z z .......

[GmAz]

This one makes me laugh. Apple has to pay Samsung 2.1 million for possible damages because of the injunction, but the tablet is over a year old and the next gen of it already out...its 2.1 million of free money to Samsung.

[GeoffS4]

This one makes me laugh. Apple has to pay Samsung 2.1 million for possible damages because of the injunction, but the tablet is over a year old and the next gen of it already out...its 2.1 million of free money to Samsung.

No, the money is not paid out but held. Iff (if and only if) Apples's claim is not supported (overturned) does the money then go to Samsung.

[Mrteacup]

There is NOTHING similar between the 2 devices except they are both tablets.
They both look different and run different OS's.
This is just Apples way of killing off the competition. I think the judge was paid off for this to go forward.

More proof Apple dont know how to play nice and are b@#$%ards.

Im pretty sure a judge doing a case this big doesnt need a bribe...

also it has nothing to do with being like the ipad(well in away it does) it has to do with patents. And samsung does just flood the market with millions of devices. By that i mean samsung only has a good share of the market cause it makes a million different types of phones and doesnt care if it infringes on patents cause it already made money off of it. The judge is right they do just flood the market with every type of phone including ones that are iphone copy cats or infringe on patents just so they can get more customers.

sure apple cant sue every single person but samsung deserves it they dont test there software on half of the phones they make cause they make too many phones (most of which are crappy) the only ones they focus on are there big ones like galaxy s 3 etc.

[steve-z17]

I wish Samsung would innovate more, there are obvious rip offs of Apple in some of their products which is unfortunate. A little more time, effort, innovation, and money and they could have had something new and amazing to call their own. I think the ruling is correct.

[i113]

Anyone that confuses the tablets in the picture above is a nimrod.

MicroSoft's recently announced tablets look way more like iPads.

And who cares how many models Samsung floods the market with? Just do what I do and don't buy them.

[PokemonDesigner]

There is NOTHING similar between the 2 devices except they are both tablets.
They both look different and run different OS's.
This is just Apples way of killing off the competition. I think the judge was paid off for this to go forward.

More proof Apple dont know how to play nice and are b@#$%ards.

Exactly why Apple needs to be taken down by Windows. Apple are just p#^*#}} that are afraid of losing money because they are arrogant little pr!:'ac who can't stand the idea of fairly losing money.

[sziklassy]

No, the money is not paid out but held. Iff (if and only if) Apples's claim is not supported (overturned) does the money then go to Samsung.

LOLs nobody uses "Iff" in an actual sentence like that. You must be a college freshman that just learned this in one of your classes, huh?

Anyone that confuses the tablets in the picture above is a nimrod.

Or just a person that is not informed of the ways of technology products. There are more of those than the ones that spend time oogling over tech reviews on websites like those that frequent here.

[Slim J]

Anyone that confuses the tablets in the picture above is a nimrod.

MicroSoft's recently announced tablets look way more like iPads.

And who cares how many models Samsung floods the market with? Just do what I do and don't buy them.

I agree. The Surface looks alot more like an iPad than the Galaxy Tab. The Tab 7.1 looks NOTHING like an iPad an I say the same for the 10.1. About the only thing they do have in common is things that a tablet needs to function (such as a touch screen, screen, etc.). For 1, the iPad uses a 4:3 screen when the Galaxy uses a 16:9. I think this is more of Apple bullying Samsung. I say that because Apple has sued many phone makers (such as Samsung, HTC, Motorola) to eliminate competition. I personally am not a fan of the iPad and would buy a Galaxy Tab over an iPad. I say that people (and the government) need to wake up and eventually figure out that Apple is trying to start a monopoly. I am an Android person but I do development on iOS. I would only buy an iPod but when it comes to a phone or tablet, I'd choose Android.

[Orby]

There is NOTHING similar between the 2 devices except they are both tablets.
They both look different and run different OS's.
This is just Apples way of killing off the competition. I think the judge was paid off for this to go forward.

More proof Apple dont know how to play nice and are b@#$%ards.

Two different cars, right? They're obviously both black sedans, but they're not the same car.



Two different phones, right? They're obviously both white candy-bar smartphones, but they're not the same phone.



^^That's the meat of Apple's claim. They're not obviously two different tablets, made by two different companies.

[Breezer23]

While I will admit they look somewhat similar (so does just about everything these days) I don't see how it warrants a ban. I own both and am I huge Android phone fanatic. Admittedly, Google has really dropped the ball on tablets. Either way, I don't see this as being warranted. The iPad, and all Apple products for that matter, use the standard circular button. The lack of that button on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 should be enough by itself to bypass this design trademark.

At the end of the day, I feel this is just another patent that was granted by a broken system. Companies should be able to protect their IP but only if it is truly innovative - and the shape/design of the iPad most certainly was not.

[roger1079]

Two different cars, right? They're obviously both black sedans, but they're not the same car.



Two different phones, right? They're obviously both white candy-bar smartphones, but they're not the same phone.



^^That's the meat of Apple's claim. They're not obviously two different tablets, made by two different companies.

They are though. Sit the two next to each other and there is no way someone could mistake one for the other. Both have VERY distinct differences. In fact, the only thing the two share is the same basic shape and color. If Samsung simply released it in a different color, Apple's claim would be down the toilet in a heartbeat. Last time I checked, they don't have a patent on the color black or rounded edges. When Samsung adds a circular button at the bottom, Apple may have a legitimate claim. I love my iPad and quite frankly didn't care much for the Galaxy Tab that I had. I have also gone back and forth with Android phones from various manufacturers as well. I always end up back with the iPhone. I however think it sucks that Apple feels the need to try to squash competition simply because they can afford to. Apple should grow up and the two companies should fight it out in the consumer marketplace rather than the courtroom.

[mortopher]

Two different cars, right? They're obviously both black sedans, but they're not the same car.



Two different phones, right? They're obviously both white candy-bar smartphones, but they're not the same phone.



^^That's the meat of Apple's claim. They're not obviously two different tablets, made by two different companies.

Other than the fact that one says SAMSUNG right on the front of it...

[bry2k2]

I wish Samsung would innovate more, there are obvious rip offs of Apple in some of their products which is unfortunate. A little more time, effort, innovation, and money and they could have had something new and amazing to call their own. I think the ruling is correct.

You cannot patent a color or a common shape. Apple has no basis to its claim, even the size is completely different. Apple sticks to its rectangularish book style while Samsung goes for a widescreen media device look. If that doesn't do it for ya, flip the damn thing over, one has an apple on it one does not, in the store one says apple ipad, one does not. How on earth do you get the two confused.

[firetwuck]

There is NOTHING similar between the 2 devices except they are both tablets.
They both look different and run different OS's.
This is just Apples way of killing off the competition. I think the judge was paid off for this to go forward.

More proof Apple dont know how to play nice and are b@#$%ards.

Like Jenny McCarthy, your most intelligent asset are your tits. You are indeed an ignorant f@&$. Go troll elsewhere.

You cannot patent a color or a common shape. Apple has no basis to its claim, even the size is completely different. Apple sticks to its rectangularish book style while Samsung goes for a widescreen media device look. If that doesn't do it for ya, flip the damn thing over, one has an apple on it one does not, in the store one says apple ipad, one does not. How on earth do you get the two confused.

Did you actually read the patent, or the suit? No? I didn't think so.