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October 02, 2012

Samsung Tab 10.1 Sales Ban Injunction Lifted, Just in Time for Samsung to Sue Apple over iPhone 5

As we write, we’re hanging out at MobilityTechzone’s ITExpo Austin 2012, a four-day event full of every conceivable wireless communications and mobility technology one might imagine. Hundreds of vendors and thousands of attendees will be hitting the show floor and numerous sessions here in Austin, TX through Friday.

It’s still early in the show, but an informal look around reveals a lot of iPhone 4S and iPad hardware – not much. However, on the Samsung front.

Maybe that will change by the time Friday rolls around and the size of the sample population grows much larger – but we seriously doubt anything will change.

We haven’t noticed any iPhone 5s yet, though we’re sure there are a few around. If you are a mobile or wireless pro and you are local to Austin or close enough for a short trip come on down, explore the show – enormously valuable – and while you are at it, go ahead and champion Apple or Samsung.

Thanks to Judge Lucy Koh, she of Apple and Samsung patent wars fame and the judge that originally placed a preliminary injunction on the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, has officially lifted the ban as of close of business on October 1, 2012. She had very little choice in the matter since the jury that otherwise found Samsung infringed on 6 of 7 Apple patents did not find the Samsung’s Tab 10.1 infringed on any relevant patents.

Judge Koh has therefore lifted the sales ban, and Samsung will now be free to once again try and sell its tablets in the United States.

That is not necessarily the end of the issue however. Apple is still in a position to file a motion known as a Rule 50 motion that specifically seeks to overrule the jury on any decisions. Apple is expected to probably file the motion following the next court session between Apple and Samsung, currently scheduled for December 6, 2012. Should Apple just let this go? We think so.

As Judge Koh was lifting the preliminary injunction, Samsung finally got around to formally adding the iPhone 5 to the patent infringement trial scheduled to take place in March 2014. As we’ve previously noted, Samsung had informed the court of its intentions to add the iPhone 5 to a list of devices it believes infringe up to 8 Samsung patents, but wasn’t able to formally file its motion until it was able to actually acquire an iPhone 5 and take it apart. It took a while.

Although we understand Apple’s powerful desire to protect its intellectual property, we do wonder not if – but when – the tide is likely to shift and go against Apple. HTC, for example, has proven itself to be a deft legal player in being able to consistently gain postponements to what amounts to the original Apple patent infringement suit – which began about two and a half years ago. We doubt that Samsung will win on the majority of its patent issues – including the iPhone 5 piece of it. But patent suits are tricky things – if Apple is found to infringe on even one key patent, Apple’s road can quickly become one full of future roadblocks.

Apple needs a true new mobile product for its future lineup (it isn’t the likely small iPad that will probably be announced in mid-October). It is time to innovate, not litigate.

Want to learn more about today’s powerful mobile ecosystem? Don't miss the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo, collocated with ITEXPO Austin 2012 happening now in Austin, TX. Stay in touch with everything happening at Mobility Tech Conference & Expo. Follow us on Twitter.




Edited by Braden Becker


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