Samsung has a reason to smile as the U.S. District Judge in San Jose, Calif., annulled a U.S. sales ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 with a court order Monday.
Judge Lucy Koh came to a decision after the Court of Appeal for Federal Circuit gave her the needed jurisdiction over Samsung's appeal. Earlier in June, Judge Koh issued a temporary sales ban on Samsung's tablet as it had to clear out a patent infringement claim by Apple on its D'889 patent.
The federal Jury, which had fined Samsung over $1 million for patent infringement on Apple designs in August, later found that the South Korean-based company did not actually infringe Apple's D'889 patent.
"The Court agrees with Samsung that the sole basis for the June 26 Preliminary Injunction was the Court's finding that Samsung likely infringed the D'889 Patent. The jury has found otherwise," Judge Koh's ruling read. "Thus, the sole basis for the June 26 Preliminary Injunction no longer exists. Based on these facts alone, the Court finds it proper to dissolve the injunction."
The court said it will hold on to Apple's bond of $2.6 million, which was deposited as a condition of preliminary injunction until post-trial motions are decided.
The ruling read:
Even if Apple ultimately prevails on its post-trial motions, any permanent injunction would be prospective and not retroactive. Furthermore, the public has no interest in enjoining a non-infringing product, and thus any market disruption caused by dissolution would be insignificant compared to Samsung's interest in restoring its product to market.
Samsung welcomed the news affirming that the sales ban on the tablet was not necessary at all.
We are pleased with the court's action today, which vindicates our position that there was no infringement of Apple's design patent and that an injunction was not called for," Samsung said in a statement.
Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet declined to comment, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Though Judge Koh reversed the sales ban, a permanent U.S. sales ban for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 could be possible as the two rivals meet on Dec. 6 for post-trial issues that include the U.S. sales ban on eight Samsung devices.
