Appeals Court overrturns injunction on Samsung GALAXY Nexus

Samsung and its fans will be happy to hear that the sales ban placed on the Samsung GALAXY Nexus by Judge Lucy Koh before the jury trial with Apple, has been overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In making the ruling, the Appeals Court said that Judge Koh had abused her discretion in ordering the injunction on the device.

Ironically, the Samsung GALAXY Nexus wasn't even part of the trial that resulted in a $1.05 billion verdict in favor of Apple. Judge Koh had issued the injunction against the Samsung GALAXY Nexus prior to the trial, agreeing with Apple that the phone infringed on Apple's '604 unified search patent also known as the Siri patent The injunction was stayed by the Appeals Court until it could make a ruling on the matter, which it has now done.

The Samsung GALAXY Nexus

The Appeals Court said it reversed Judge Koh not only because she had abused her discretion, but also because Apple could not prove that buyers were purchasing the Samsung GALAXY Nexus because of the infringing technology. In its decision, the Appeals Court wrote that the Samsung GALAXY Nexus could sell just as well even without the infringing technology, which allows users to search the internet and the phone's own memory with a single search. The Appeals Court remanded the case back to Judge Koh.

An injunction that the judge had placed on the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 was dismissed by Judge Koh earlier this month. Koh had placed a sales ban on the tablet before the trial saying that a reasonable jury would find that the tablet infringed on Apple's design patents for the Apple iPad. Surprise! The jury found that the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 did not infringe on Apple's design patents and while the jury did find that it had violated some of Apple's software patents, Judge Koh set the tablet free.