Samsung and Apple’s much talked about court battle took a new turn earlier this week when Judge Lucy Koh, hearing the case denied Apple’s request for a permanent injunction on more than 20 Samsung devices. The news might have come as a mild setback for Apple who had earlier this year been awarded $1.05 billion in damages. Back then, a jury found that some of Samsung’s products had features that were “wilfully” copied from Apple products. The request to ban as many as 26 Samsung devices was made by a confident Apple who envisioned that the request could be granted – especially after a successful court verdict. This time however, Apple was unable to convince the judge about their claims.
Today, we have news that Judge Koh has decided against the ban. According to Koh, while Samsung had infringed upon some features of Apple’s idevices, these accounted for a tiny fraction of the overall features of the Samsung’s devices – most of which weren’t “copied” from Apple.
“Though Apple does have some interest in retaining certain features as exclusive to Apple, it does not follow that entire products must be forever banned from the market because they incorporate, among their myriad features, a few narrow protected functions,” Koh wrote in her Monday verdict.
The verdict might have come as a relief to Samsung. There was however some good news for Apple after news came out that Samsung’s appeal to try for a new trial on the $1.05 billion verdict was rejected by the Judge. Samsung claimed that there was a jury bias on part of the judges that delivered the verdict and that the case is reconsidered.