JURIST - Paper Chase: Federal judge lifts Samsung tablet sales ban

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website] on Monday lifted an injunction [case materials] against Samsung [corporate website] which banned the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 [product backgrounder]. After losing a patent dispute [JURIST report] with Apple [corporate website], Samsung may now resume selling [Reuters report] the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the US. Judge Lucy Koh ruled that the sales ban should be lifted after the jury found that Samsung did not infringe the patent that was the primary basis for the preliminary injunction [JURIST report] against Samsung's Galaxy 10.1. In a separate action on Tuesday, Samsung filed a motion alleging that Apple's iPhone5 [product information] infringes [JURIST report] on some of the South Korean company's patents.

Apple and Samsung, the top two smart phone companies, are currently engaged in patent disputes in 10 countries. Last week a judge for the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled [JURIST report] that Apple products do not infringe on Samsung's patents. Last month the Korean Fair Trade Commission said that South Korean regulators are investigating an Apple complaint [JURIST report] alleging that Samsung is unfairly competing in the market to the disadvantage of its competitors. In August a Japanese court dismissed a claim [JURIST report] by Apple that Samsung violated Apple's patents with its smartphones and tablets.