The saga between tech rivals Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) continues. On Thursday morning, United States District Judge Lucy Koh denied Apple’s latest request to ban the sale of older Samsung smartphones.
A ruling against Apple’s wishes
The Cupertino-based tech giant wanted a permanent injection against the Samsung products that were found to violate Apple’s trademark and patent rights. However, Koh recently ruled that Apple isn’t allowed to keep Samsung from selling older devices such as tablets or phones. She also discovered Apple’s failure to prove patent rights are at stake. The jury found Samsung guilty of violating three patents including the pinch-to-zoom feature.
Even if Koh was to grant Apple’s wish, it would not do much for the situation as Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) stopped selling most of the devices. Despite Koh’s latest ruling, Samsung still isn’t in the clear. Two juries awarded Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) with over $970 million over the ruling.
Mercury News summed it up further with the following, “The judge’s decision finalizes the first patent case at the trial level, teeing it up for Samsung to appeal the jury verdict to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, Apple and Samsung are preparing for a second patent trial involving newer lines of their signature smartphones and tablets, such as Apple’s iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, which Apple claims have been copied by Samsung’s Galaxy SIII and Galaxy Tab 2.”
Preparing for the next court battle
The next big courtroom battle between the tech companies is set to begin March 31 and the trial could last through early May. This will be the continuation from the litigation that started two years ago. In this upcoming trial, we can expect both parties to bring more things to fight. Apple will list some of Samsung’s more current devices in their list of infringing devices.
There is a strong possibility Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will go in for the kill, especially since Samsung’s market share is notably higher.
