Skip to main content

Apple can't ban infringing Samsung products until December under new court schedule

Apple can't ban infringing Samsung products until December under new court schedule

Share this story

Galaxy S II Skyrocket AT&T
Galaxy S II Skyrocket AT&T

Mere hours after the jury returned its $1.049 billion verdict in the Apple v. Samsung case, Judge Lucy Koh informed both parties that a hearing would be held in September to discuss any new injunctions Apple would be seeking againt Samsung's products. A change in Koh's strategy has shifted the playing field, however — and both sides now aren't scheduled to discuss any new injunctions until December 6th.

In an order filed this afternoon, Koh lays out the new post-trial schedule, writing that after considering the breadth of Apple's recent injunction request, and "the additional post-trial motions that the parties have already filed and will file," it makes sense to put the injunction discussion and the post-trial judgement requests on the same schedule. As such, both sides will be filing paperwork with the court between now and November, but a hearing won't happen until December 6th. That would be the soonest Apple could be granted any new injunctions against Samsung's phones and tablets. Koh also enacted strict page limits for both parties in the order, continuing her hardline push for Apple and Samsung to be as efficient as possible.

The delay can't make Apple happy — but to be fair, Koh did warn that she had an extremely crowded court calendar immediately following the trial, so this kind of delay is something both parties knew was a possibility.

Samsung's request to dissolve the preliminary injunction currently in place against the Galaxy Tab 10.1, however, will be discussed at a hearing on September 20th — potentially setting up a situation where not a single infringing Samsung device would be taken off the market until the end of the year. We're sure Apple will do its best to avoid just such a scenario from taking place, and we'll be there in court next month to let you know what happens.