Judge Denies Apple’s Request for Samsung Sales Ban

Is the Apple v. Samsung worldwide patent war starting to wind down? On Monday, Apple lost its bid to have Samsung products banned in the U.S. Then on Tuesday, Samsung decided to drop its pursuit of a sales ban on Apple products in Europe.

PCMag’s Chloe Albanesius reported, “Apple was dealt a major setback this week when a California judge refused to grant Cupertino’s request for a ban on infringing Samsung products. Judge Lucy Koh found that Apple had not adequately demonstrated that it would suffer irreparable harm if 26 Samsung devices were not pulled from the market.”

However, Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s Joel Rosenblatt and Karen Gullo noted that another ruling by Judge Koh was not so favorable to Samsung. “In a second order yesterday, Koh denied Samsung’s motion for a new trial because of allegations regarding the jury’s foreman,” they wrote. “Koh is still considering Samsung’s request to reduce the $1.05 billion verdict awarded by the jury.”

On Tuesday, BBC News added, “Samsung has said it will drop its lawsuit seeking to ban the sale of some of Apple’s products in Europe. The Taiwanese company said it wanted to compete ‘fairly in the marketplace, rather than in court’ and ‘protect consumer choice.'”

Reuters observed, “Samsung and Apple, the world’s top two smartphone makers, have been locked in patent disputes in at least 10 countries over the last 18 months since Apple sued Samsung, saying the Korean firm copied its best-selling iPhone and iPad. On Tuesday, Samsung said it was dropping an attempt to stop the sale of some Apple products in Germany, Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands, though it did not say it would halt its court battle for compensation.”