Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2012/07/02/samsung_appeal_nexus_ban/
Samsung asks for US Galaxy Nexus ban to be lifted pending appeal
Korean blower 'will damage us IRREPARABLY' snivels Apple
Posted in Legal, 2nd July 2012 11:42 GMT
Samsung has filed an appeal against the US ban on the Galaxy Nexus phone that will take the Google mobe off the market for nearly two years.
US judge Lucy Koh awarded the preliminary injunction on the phone to Apple on Friday, blocking imports of the Nexus until the trial starts, currently scheduled for March 31, 2014.
Apple has to post a bond of no less than $95.6m to cover Samsung's projected losses if the ban turns out to have been wrongfully ordered. However, that isn't going to be much help to the Korean firm or Google after waiting two years, during which time the Nexus' tech will no doubt have been outstripped, rendering it useless.
The iPhone-maker asserted four patents in its case against the Galaxy Nexus, which is currently Google's flagship Android mobe, dealing with unified search and predictive text recommendations among other things. Judge Koh's ban means that she reckons that all four are likely to be valid and infringed by the Nexus.
As it now wants to appeal, Samsung has also filed a motion with the court to stay the ban until the appeal is heard, which would give the Nexus a while longer on the shelves even if Apple win the appeal as well.
"The Court should grant a temporary stay of the injunction order because Samsung has a strong likelihood of succeeding on appeal, and at a minimum has a substantial case on the merits," the firm said in its filing.
"Samsung respectfully submits that [the] status quo should remain in place pending the Federal Circuit’s expeditious resolution of the pending appeal so that Samsung, its customers, and the public may avoid substantial disruption and irreparable harm that cannot be adequately repaired in the event the injunction is ultimately reversed.
"On the other side of the coin, continued, incremental sales of the Galaxy Nexus during an expedited appeal pose minimal harm to Apple. Thus, the equities tip sharply in favour of an interim stay," the filing added.
Naturally, Apple disagreed, filing back immediately to ask the court to deny Samsung a stay on the ban.
"In an extraordinarily comprehensive opinion, this Court concluded that the Galaxy Nexus likely infringed all four of Apple’s patents at issue, and that all four of those patents were likely valid. This Court further found, based on overwhelming evidence including Samsung’s own documents, that preliminary relief is necessary because continued sales of the Galaxy Nexus would immediately and irreparably harm Apple," the company said.
"Samsung now seeks effectively to render that opinion a nullity, so that it can continue unimpeded to flood the market with infringing devices during this critical juncture in the smartphone market, in order to capture long-term market share, all the while irreparably harming Apple."
The ban is the latest win for Apple, who is currently gaining the upper hand in the ongoing ebb and flow of the patent wars against Android manufacturers. The same judge granted a preliminary injunction against sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the US last week. ®