Judge Lucy Koh, of the United States District Court of Northern California, dissolved the injunction on the sales of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 on Monday, October 1, 2012.
The court preliminary injunction prohibited Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the United States on June 26, due to possible violations of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s design patent no. D504899. Samsung immediately filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit.
Prior to her ruling on Monday, Judge Koh initially denied Samsung’s Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) motion to dissolve the preliminary injunction without prejudice, citing that her court had no jurisdiction over the issue since the South Korean company had a pending appeal with the Federal Circuit.
The Federal Circuit granted Samsung’s request for a court trial to reconsider the preliminary injunction on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and issued a limited remand order for Judge Lucy Koh to rule on Samsung’s motion to dissolve the sales ban on September 28.
Judge Koh found that the preliminary injunction on the sales of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 no longer exists, after the federal jury’s verdict on August 26 that the device did not violate Apple’s design patent no. D504899.
The ruling of the Presiding Justice reads,
“The Court agrees with Samsung, that the sole basis for the June 26 Preliminary Injunction was the Court’s finding that Samsung likely infringed the D’889 Patent. The jury has found otherwise. Thus, the sole basis for the June 26 Preliminary Injunction no longer exists. Based on these facts alone, the Court finds it proper to dissolve the injunction.”
In addition, Judge Koh also ruled on Apple’s appeal for the Court to hold its judgment. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) argued that it would be confusing to the market to dissolve and reinstate the injunction on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, as both parties have existing briefing motions. Judge Koh ignored Apple’s motion, as she pointed out in her ruling below:
“Moreover, the Court does not agree with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) that Samsung’s motion for dissolution of the June 26 preliminary injunction cannot be fairly decided without resolving Apple’s post trial motion. Even if Apple ultimately prevails on its post trial motions, any permanent injunction would be prospective and not retroactive. Furthermore, the public has no interest in enjoining a non-infringing product, and thus any market disruption caused by dissolution would be insignificant, compared to Samsung’s interest in restoring its product to market.”
The Court also retained the $2.6 billion bond Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) posted as a condition for obtaining the preliminary injunction, until the resolution of the posttrial motions. The bond is intended to “pay for the costs and damages sustained by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined or restrained.”
In related news, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) included the iPhone 5 in its existing patent lawsuit against Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), in the latest filing submitted to the District Court of Northern California on Monday.
