A judge in the US will seemingly not rule in Apple’s favor when it comes to the company’s request to ban Samsung smartphones and tablets.
Apple’s beef is that Samsung’s Galaxy S phone is basically a carbon copy of the iPhone and the Galaxy Tab is a carbon copy of the iPad.
While that may be true in some regard, it’s also true that it’s kind of the nature of the consumer electronics industry. Someone makes something right, and others copy it.
As long as the latter companies are able to distinguish the products enough and not infringe on any patents, they’re golden. It is that second issue that Apple is clinging too, though.
Apple claims Samsung used all manner of its patents in creating the Galaxy devices. The companies are now embroiled in legal scuffles that span 10 countries. Apple has managed to ban sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab in Germany and Australia.
But here in the US, District Judge Lucy Koh isn’t so quick to pass judgment. Specifically, she is looking at the validity of the Apple patents in question. While she frequently commented on the similarity between the iPad and the Galaxy Tab, according to Reuters coverage of the trial, she realized the backbone of the case may not be so clear-cut.
And so it appears that a massive ban on Galaxy Tab sales in the US, which would surely cripple Samsung to its core, is not extremely likely. But anything is possible. Koh is expected to make a final judgment soon.
