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Apple wins court order banning sale of old Samsung phones

Apple wins court order banning sale of old Samsung phones

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But Samsung says American consumers won't be affected

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In the long-running patent dispute between Apple and Samsung, Apple has won a victory that doesn't appear too damaging to Samsung, either. The iPhone maker was granted a motion to force changes to some patent-infringing Samsung phones, but the infringing devices have already long been retired.

Samsung says American consumers will not be impacted

The dispute between the companies focuses on features like autocorrect and slide-to-unlock used in phones such as the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Nexus — older models that have already been taken out of circulation by Samsung. The motion for an injunction granted this week only affects those and similar devices, and orders Samsung to stop using the infringing software or selling devices using it.

"We would like to reassure our millions of loyal customers that all of our flagship smartphones, which are used and loved by American consumers, will remain for sale and available for customer service support in the U.S.," Samsung said in a statement. The company said the decision "will not impact American consumers," but derided Apple for "abusing the judicial system to create bad legal precedent which can harm consumer choice for generations to come."

As Bloomberg points out, although the decision may not immediately hurt Samsung, it may give Apple more weight when negotiating on future patent disputes.

This week, other tech companies, including Google and Facebook, filed a supporting brief asking the Supreme Court to hear Samsung's appeal in the dispute.