Though Apple won a fresh billion dollars in the US patent infringement case, Apple won’t be able to kill Samsung products dead. Judge Lucy Koh, the federal judge that presided over Apple v Samsung, has denied Apple a permanent injunction against Samsung. Samsung can still sell the products that infringed on Apple’s patents.
Along with that order, Judge Koh also denied Samsung a new trial on grounds of alleged jury misconduct. Apple is expected to appeal the ruling that denied the injunction. FOSS Patents says:
It may be unprecedented in the legal history of the United States for an injunction motion to be denied across the board despite such a large number of infringement findings (roughly half a dozen) by a jury and, especially, in light of the competitive situation between the two as well as the jury’s findings of willful infringement. If no injunction is ordered in such a case, it is hard to see how any patent holder could ever prevail on such a motion, and I doubt that this is what the appeals court will consider the right outcome. But the appeal will take a year or more, and in the meantime, this is a huge defensive success for Samsung’s lawyers.
So though Apple won the billion dollars, they weren’t able to oust Samsung products from the market. Which means, it’s still going to be Apple v Samsung in the courts and in real life for a very long time. [FOSS Patents]