Big news tonight in the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Samsung, as a judge has granted Apple's request for a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the U.S. The decision was issued by Judge Lucy Koh, who said in her order that Apple had shown that it'd likely face "irreparable harm" from sales of the Tab 10.1 because the two companies are direct competitors that hold a large combined share of a market in which there aren't many other contenders. Apple also is said to have shown that "design mattered more to customers in making tablet purchases." Koh went on to say that Samsung is unlikely to prove that the patent that it's said to have infringed is invalid and that, although Samsung will likely suffer lost sales due to the injunction, "the hardship to Apple of having to directly compete with Samsung’s infringing products outweighs Samsung’s harm in light of the previous findings by the Court.”
This isn't the first time that Samsung has faced a Galaxy Tab 10.1 injunction, as the device was also hit with a ban in Germany. (The Tab 10.1N, which was designed to get around Apple's injunction, eluded a ban.) As for what happens next in this U.S. case, Apple must pay a $2.6 million bond before the order kicks in, which is meant to pay Samsung's damages if it turns out that this injunction was wrongfully granted. Samsung has yet to issue a comment on Judge Koh's ruling, so it's not yet clear if the company plans to fight today's decision. However, such a move wouldn't be a huge surprise. Apple's statement on the decision is below.
"It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”
Via Reuters, AllThingsD
