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Judge Koh dissolves sales ban on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Judge Koh dissolves sales ban on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

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apple samsung galaxy tab ipad

Samsung has been pushing for the preliminary injunction on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to be lifted ever since Apple won its $1.049 billion victory, and today it got its wish: Judge Lucy Koh has dissolved the US sales ban on the tablet. It's the latest twist in a long and winding story for the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Back in June, Judge Koh granted a preliminary injunction based on the likelihood that the Tab infringed upon the iPad's hardware design patent. However, while the jury found that the device had infringed on several pieces of Apple's intellectual property, the cited hardware design patent wasn't one of them. Given the circumstances, Samsung asked for the sales ban to be lifted.

Judge Koh stated in a September filing that she would dissolve the injunction if allowed — but since Samsung had already appealed the preliminary injunction the matter was out of her jurisdiction. This past Friday the Federal US Circuit Court of Appeals kicked the case back down to Koh, opening the door to today's decision. Koh also stated that the court will be holding on to the $2.6 million bond Apple posted for the injunction until all post-trial matters are wrapped up.

Of course, given that the Tab 10.1 was found to have infringed on other patents, the device could be banned again after the December hearing currently scheduled on Judge Koh's calendar. Apple has already stated that it plans to pursue permanent injunctions against a number of Samsung phones, including the entire Galaxy S II series, based upon the jury's findings. This is in addition to the more than 20 phones that Cupertino is pursuing claims against in its second patent lawsuit against Samsung, scheduled to go to trial next year. In short, we're still a long way away from the two companies finding any kind of peaceful resolution to their problems — but for the moment at least, a win for Samsung is still a win.