Judge Rejects Samsung’s Request to Lift U.S. Sales Ban of Galaxy Nexus

Samsung had appealed to put the injunction on hold until the full trial. AllThingsD now reports that the judge has declined Samsung's appeal yesterday.

Last week, a U.S. court judge granted Apple a preliminary injunction banning the U.S. sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Google's flagship device for Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich".

AllThingsD reports:

U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh ruled that there was not sufficient evidence to put the ban on hold while Samsung pursues an appeal.

“Although some consumers may be disappointed that they cannot purchase the Galaxy Nexus, the Galaxy Nexus, as Samsung itself has repeatedly insisted, is not Samsung’s only smartphone product on the market,” Koh wrote in the ruling.

In order for the sales ban to go into effect, Apple has to pay a bond of $95 million to protect Samsung if it is later determined that the injunction should not have been granted. The same judge had also granted Apple the preliminary injunction banning the sales of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet.



AllThingsD reports that Google and Samsung may have a software workaround to avoid the ban.

The Verge has reports that Google has removed Galaxy Nexus from Google Play. Though it is not clear if Google is obeying the injunction or has simply removed it to start shipping Google Nexus with Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" that was unveiled last week.

First and foremost, Samsung and Google have a software patch that they believe avoids infringing the Apple patent that led to the injunction. That patch is expected to be pushed out imminently, Google said.

Samsung has issued a statement stating that it is disappointed by the ruling and will pursue its appeal:

“We believe today’s ruling will ultimately reduce the availability of superior products to consumers in the United States. Meanwhile, we are also working closely with Google to resolve this matter, as the patent in question concerns Google’s unified search function.”



It will be interesting to see how this impacts Apple relationship with Samsung, who is also an important manufacturing partner that makes critical components such as Retina Displays, chips etc for iOS devices.