A US federal
appeals court has sided with Samsung Electronics Corporation in one aspect of
its ongoing patent dispute with Apple.
The US Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday overturned a judge's order blocking
Samsung from selling its Galaxy Nexus smartphone pending a patent lawsuit by
Apple.
It said the
district court in California, which had issued the ban in June, had
"abused its discretion in entering an injunction".
Apple accuses
Samsung of stealing its smartphone and tablet computer technology. A jury in
September agreed with the company and ordered Samsung to pay $1bn. Samsung has
moved to set the judgment aside.
In its Thursday
ruling, the appeals court said Apple had failed to show that any of the patent
violations it accused Samsung of in regards to the Galaxy would immediately and
irreparably hurt its own smartphone sales.
It said Judge Lucy
Koh had abused her discretion in granting Apple a preliminary injunction
earlier this year. The decision allowed Samsung to continue selling the Galaxy
Nexus.
Samsung welcomed
the latest decision saying it "confirms that the role of patent law is to
protect innovation and not to unreasonably stifle competition and restrict
consumer choice".
"We will
continue to take all appropriate measures to ensure the availability of our
innovative products," the South Korean manufacturer said.
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