Court of Appeals temporarily restarts sales of Galaxy Nexus
updated 08:00 pm EDT, Fri July 6, 2012
Sales restart dependent on Apple response, repeat hearing
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has temporarily suspended the ban on the Galaxy Nexus sales in the US. Sales of the Android 4.0 reference phone will continue until Apple responds to the appeals court and a hearing determines if the ban should be in effect until the end of the patent infringement trial scheduled for July 26. The same appeals court is continuing the ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
The Galaxy Nexus was removed from the Google Play store on July 3 following the ruling from Judge Lucy Koh enjoining sales primarily for Samsung's violation of Apple's "unified search," or Siri, patents. Google has announced a patch to the Galaxy Nexus to work around Apple's patent, but the patch has not been implemented yet. Google has said that the Nexus will be available next week on the Google Play store with Android 4.1 Jellybean installed, which allegedly also removes items infringing on Apple's patents.
Apple's suit began against Samsung last year for violation of several patents in the Korean manufacturer's Android devices, including the oft-referenced "data tapping" patent, that converts phone numbers and URLs embedded in a text to contextually be used as application-specific links as well as the "unified search" patent referenced in the injunction of the smartphone. Samsung countersued in several countries. At the end of 2011, the patent wars between the pair of industry giants spanned 50 suits across 10 countries.
