If you thought the Samsung v Apple battles would end following Apple’s initial victory last October, you were wrong. The two companies are still going at in courts around the world, and little progress is being made to resolve the issues.
Back in October, Apple’s request to have the Samsung Galaxy Nexus banned was rejected, and as you would expect, the Cupertino company didn’t take the ruling lightly and immediately filed an appeal. On Thursday however, the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. stated that it will stand by its earlier ruling and not ban the Galaxy Nexus from the United States.
This specific battle over patents started last February when Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung requesting that all patent infringing Samsung devices be banned. Judge Lucy Koh granted Apple’s request and a handful of products were supposedly taken off the market. Samsung filed an appeal, which was almost immediately rejected by Koh. The South Korean company then turned to the District Court of Appeals, which granted Samsung a temporary stay on the ban, but the ban was extended in August until a final verdict could be reached.The ban was fully removed in October by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit who said that the California district court “abused its discretion” in the initial injunction. That of course is when Apple filed its appeal, hoping to the Galaxy Nexus banned yet again.
The U.S. District Court of Appeals didn’t give any reasoning as to why it rejected Apple’s appeal, though back in October the courts increased requirements for receiving a patent-based sales ban. Apple declined a request for comment and Samsung could not be immediately reached. Apple could still attempt to receive a ban from the U.S. Supreme Court, but that would be extremely difficult to make happen and the chances of the court accepting the appeal are very low.
Apple has scored the only major victory in this war with Samsung. The company was rewarded over $1 billion when a U.S. District Court in California ruled that Samsung violated many of Apple’s patents.
This will certainly not be the final piece of news to come out of the Samsung v Apple trial. A court hearing is currently slated for March 2014.