Katie Marsal
Apple's bid to once again ban sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus handset was denied on Thursday by a U.S. appeals court.
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., revisited its earlier October decision and rejected Apple's request, according to Reuters. With the rejection, a trial between Samsung and Apple remains on track to begin in March of 2014.
Apple original won a ban on sales of the Galaxy Nexus, but that decision was reversed last October by the appeals court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined last year that the California court that had approved the initial ban had "abused its discretion."
"At best, the district court's findings indicate that some consumers who buy the iPhone 4S like Siri because, among other things, its search results are comprehensive," the appeals court said last fall. "That does not sufficiently suggest, however, that consumers would buy the Galaxy Nexus because of its improved comprehensiveness in search."
In her initial ruling, Judge Lucy Koh cited U.S Patent No. U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604 regarding Siri voice commands and unified search functionality first levied against the Google and Samsung flagship handset by Apple in February.
Thursday's rejection by the appeals court was characterized as a "brief order." It was handed down "without detailed explanation or any published dissents," author Dan Levine noted.
Apple's last move, if it wishes to continue its attempts to block the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, could be to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the current justices have generally not been supportive of sales injunctions.
Amber Neely
Andrew Orr
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Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
11 Comments
They have already removed that and replaced the functionality with Google-now. Apple should choose a different target this one will be hard to win.
Good deal. With the shear number of micropatents it is pretty much impossible for one manufacturer to build a device that doesn't infringe another's IP. Injunctions for infractions are way to severe a penalty and just hurt consumers. If the patent is more obstruction than innovation, overturn it. If the patent has merit, fine the bejuses out of the infringer. Simple enough. I'm equally as happy with Apple product bans being dropped in Europe as I am with this ruling.
Interesting to see if Apple appeals this. Not a case the Supreme Court would normally choose to pick up, but given the state of litigation mania, they just might. A very clear, very decisive ruling by the Supreme Court could really put a damper on a lot of the littigation. No lower court is going to touch a SC ruling with a ten foot pole. I'd be a little surprised if Apple does appeal as it isn't likely to bear any fruit and might result in a big thorn in their current strategy.
The Galaxy Nexus was released 16 months ago. Samsung has likely long stopped manufacturing it and if anyone is selling it, it's from old, unsold stock. This is a massive waste of time and money on Apple's part.
Even though I don't think Apple will be hurt by this financially it does fit their stance on 'stop using our innovations' so this is a loss nonetheless. Maybe these court articles can get a separate section, right between Product Guide and Wiki.
The Galaxy Nexus was released 16 months ago. Samsung has likely long stopped manufacturing it and if anyone is selling it, it's from old, unsold stock. This is a massive waste of time and money on Apple's part.
They are targeting this phone because it runs Stock android. Apple sees it this way. If they can ban the phone running stock android it will set a precedent and lead to banning all phones that run android regardless of if it is stock or Skinned.