Opens door for another Apple copyright suit against Samsung

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has reversed a previous judge's ruling that there was no merit to Apple's copyright complaint against Samsung. Prior judgements on iPhone versus the Galaxy Nexus phone were left untouched. The original ruling against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was that Apple's patent was "obvious", meaning that the original patent should never have been granted.

As a result of Apple's appeal, the matter has been returned to district court for further review. One of the three judges on the appeal board disagreed with the decision, saying not that the issue should go back to court for review, but rather, that Apple should have been granted an injunction against Samsung prohibiting the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The German market has a similar injunction in place, and as such, carries the Galaxy Tab 10.1n, a revision of the tablet with the metal frame extending over the edges of the screen and repositioned speakers. The design alternations of the 10.1n versus the 10.1 allow it to be sold in Germany, despite the injunction on the original product.

Two other iPhone-related design patents and a software patent ruling by the previous judge, Judge Koh, were upheld by the appeals court. Court-moderated talks are scheduled in San Francisco at the end of this week for the CEOs and chief lawyers of Apple and Samsung.

By Electronista Staff

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