Appeals Court Overturns Sales Ban on Samsung Galaxy Nexus

[MacRumors]

Prior to Apple's patent trial win over Samsung, the company was awarded an injunction by Judge Lucy Koh barring U.S. sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone. As noted by The Next Web, a federal appeals court today reversed the ban on the grounds that Apple would not be sufficiently harmed by the alleged infringement.

The appeals court found that the feature was indeed not integral to the success of the Galaxy Nexus, ruling that the lower court "abused its discretion" in issuing the original injunction. The Next Web notes:

The preliminary injunction on the Samsung smartphone had been granted as of June 30th by U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who eventually conducted the Apple v. Samsung patent trial. The ruling was based primarily on the 8086604 patent, which is defined as a "universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system." The full patent appears to relate to a unified search tool that can be used to find a variety of different items via one indexed database. This could also refer to a unified spoken word interface like Siri, or Google's voice search.

At the time, Koh said that "Apple has articulated a plausible theory of irreparable harm" due to a "long-term loss of market share" and "losses of downstream sales."

The appeals court, however, disagreed with Koh's ruling that Apple had shown adequate threat of irreparable harm.

Samsung and Google developed a software workaround or the patent in question and deployed it shortly after the injunction went into effect. With the ban now lifted, the workaround appears to no longer be necessary. The full order [PDF] is available from the U.S. Courts website.

Update 11:51 AM: Our initial report seems to have generated some confusion over the exact rationale for the appeals court's decision to overturn the injunction. The appeals court ruled that Apple did not sufficiently show that sales of the Galaxy Nexus benefited from the inclusion of the unified search feature that is the subject of the patent. Given that view, the lower court was ruled to have overstepped its bounds in issuing the injunction on the belief that Apple would be caused irreparable harm by allowing sales of the Galaxy Nexus to continue.

In other words, it may very well be that the accused product would sell almost as well without incorporating the patented feature. And in that case, even if the competitive injury that results from selling the accused device is substantial, the harm that flows from the alleged infringement (the only harm that should count) is not.

The appeals court's decision was not based upon Samsung's earlier argument that sales of the Galaxy Nexus had been so "minuscule" as to not be a threat to Apple. We have also removed a quote from The Next Web's report that when taken out of context suggests that this was at least a partial reason for the overturning of the injunction.

Article Link: Appeals Court Overturns Sales Ban on Samsung Galaxy Nexus

[Gasu E.]

"Nobody wants our product; therefore, a ban is unnecessary."

[SockRolid]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

... on the grounds that Apple would not be sufficiently harmed by the infringement. ...

Yeah, it's alright. Let the kiddies have their fun.

[urbanslaughter]

eh, who cares really? I think it was a big win that they got the injunction in the first place, but having it reversed is not a big deal and probably won't get much news coverage anyway.

[KnightWRX]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

In the aftermath of Apple's patent trial win over Samsung, the company was awarded an injunction by Judge Lucy Koh barring U.S. sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone.

Hum, this is wrong. The injunction was granted in another lawsuit not related to Apple's current win in their original suit. And also, it was granted before the August trial, back in June, so not exactly "In the aftermath".

[k1121j]

its agianst the law but its ok cause no one will buy them so does that mean it they sell a lot of them they can revisit?

[samcraig]

So it's a big deal when Apple "wins" - but when that win is overturned - who cares? Interesting.

[striker33]

So basically, it doesnt matter if you steal someone else's property, as long as you are making very little money from it.

Makes sense.

[tekno]

I'll never understand how a court of law can make a decision only for the appeals court to change that decision.

Shouldn't the original judge now be fired or something? What makes the appeal court more correct than the original court?

[samcraig]

Originally Posted by striker33

So basically, it doesnt matter if you steal someone else's property, as long as you are making very little money from it.

Makes sense.

No that's not at all what the overturn is about. Just because MR put in the comment about sales in the article doesn't mean it had anything at all to do with the reversal.

[TrentS]

Too bad if your sales are in the dumps. Your product still should be banned if it is not fully legal, patent-wise. Samsung should just get out of the tech business and start building toilets or something.

[KnightWRX]

Originally Posted by k1121j

its agianst the law but its ok cause no one will buy them so does that mean it they sell a lot of them they can revisit?

What's against the law ? There has been no verdict in the lawsuit in which the Galaxy Nexus is listed.

----------

Originally Posted by striker33

So basically, it doesnt matter if you steal someone else's property, as long as you are making very little money from it.

Makes sense.

Makes sense since no one was found guilty of infringement in this lawsuit. The MacRumors story is confused.

[bad03xtreme]

I am confused, this phone has continued to be for sale on Verizon's website. It's actually on sale for $49.99 now??

[KnightWRX]

Originally Posted by tekno

Shouldn't the original judge now be fired or something? What makes the appeal court more correct than the original court?

Appeals are usually heard by a panel of 3 judges.

[Tiger8]

This phone barely scratched the surface, it only counts for less than 0.5% of the smart phone market, to be honest I am surprised.

Of all the bloatware-loaded Samsung (and other vendors) phones, Nexus provides 'pure' Android experience, which according to many is the best experience. The phone comes with 'just right' mid-level specs (for example, HSPA+ rather than LTE, but still fast) and is as universal as it gets (it works seemlessly with AT&T and T-Mobile). and a KILLER price of $350 unlocked, free on contract. Why did it not sell?

I think Samsung themsleves did it out of some sort of a previous deal or obligation, they wanted it to fail.

[the read]

I'm happy Apple have not succeeded at this.

Samsung and Google have a great product and we all deserve the choice to buy it if we want.

Competition is great. My money is going on Samsung for my next phone. 4 years on iOS has been disappointing to say the least.

[KnightWRX]

Originally Posted by TrentS

Too bad if your sales are in the dumps. Your product still should be banned if it is not fully legal, patent-wise. Samsung should just get out of the tech business and start building toilets or something.

Apple wouldn't be able to sell iPhones then either. Klausner patent's on Visual Voice mail caused them grief, the September 14th ITC decision ruled that they need to pay for FRAND patents to Samsung because patent exhaustion doesn't come into play, etc..

In these industries, no one is white, everyone infringes on someone else's patents, just by the sheer number of patents covering such a wide breadth of technology out there.

[tekno]

Originally Posted by KnightWRX

Appeals are usually heard by a panel of 3 judges.

Kind of makes me think that one the last day, two extra judges should sit in on a case, then.

I'm more worried about the fact the first judgement was wrong!

[Destroysall]

Originally Posted by bad03xtreme

I am confused, this phone has continued to be for sale on Verizon's website. It's actually on sale for $49.99 now??

You're probably looking at the Nexus S. The Nexus is only available through the Google Play Store.

[Krazy Bill]

Originally Posted by tekno

Shouldn't the original judge now be fired or something? What makes the appeal court more correct than the original court?

Being "correct" has nothing to do with it since that's subjective at best. Judges are only human and pass down "opinions".

I for one am glad the U.S. has an appeals process.

[Tiger8]

Originally Posted by the read

I'm happy Apple have not succeeded at this.

Samsung and Google have a great product and we all deserve the choice to buy it if we want.

Competition is great. My money is going on Samsung for my next phone. 4 years on iOS has been disappointing to say the least.

ok bye

[ChazUK]

Originally Posted by bad03xtreme

I am confused, this phone has continued to be for sale on Verizon's website. It's actually on sale for $49.99 now??

The original injunction was stopped pending this appeal from what I remember.

[the8thark]

Originally Posted by KnightWRX

Hum, this is wrong. The injunction was granted in another lawsuit not related to Apple's current win in their original suit. And also, it was granted before the August trial, back in June, so not exactly "In the aftermath".

I agree. This is wrong. Care to have the original article here fixed?

[ChazUK]

Originally Posted by Destroysall

You're probably looking at the Nexus S. The Nexus is only available through the Google Play Store.

Its also sold by Verizon. The Nexus S is no longer on sale I believe.

[striker33]

Originally Posted by Tiger8

This phone barely scratched the surface, it only counts for less than 0.5% of the smart phone market, to be honest I am surprised.

Of all the bloatware-loaded Samsung (and other vendors) phones, Nexus provides 'pure' Android experience, which according to many is the best experience. The phone comes with 'just right' mid-level specs (for example, HSPA+ rather than LTE, but still fast) and is as universal as it gets (it works seemlessly with AT&T and T-Mobile). and a KILLER price of $350 unlocked, free on contract. Why did it not sell?

I think Samsung themsleves did it out of some sort of a previous deal or obligation, they wanted it to fail.

When the Nexus first got released, it was the best Android phone.

However, Samsung have significantly improved their UI, beyond what a 'pure' google handset would offer. Its a lot more user friendly (mostly copied from Apple), whilst retaining the customisation of Android.

I'd actually struggle to go back to any non Touchwiz android device now. They're just so much more fluid and appealing compared to stock android.

Plus theres not a single crappy software button in sight. Real buttons ftw.