U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, has rejected Samsung’s request to remove her June 26 ban on sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. The tablet will not be sold in the U.S. until the patent trial between Apple and Samsung, which is scheduled for July 30th, is over.
“Samsung is disappointed with the court’s decision that denied our motion to stay. We believe today’s ruling will ultimately reduce the availability of superior technological features to consumers in the United States,” Samsung said in a released statement.
The injunction does not affect the updated version of the tablet, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 II, but the decision by Judge Lucy could have dire consequences for the South Korean electronics behemoth.
Judge Koh has also granted a preliminary injunction on sales of the Galaxy Nexus, Samsung’s Android phone. (The Nexus is the only Android phone that has announced support for Android 4.1, “Jelly Bean”.) Samsung has appealed, but today’s decision doesn’t give much hope to Samsung that Judge Lucy will side with them.
Apple has also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III. If the court comes down on Apple’s side on that one, it would be a much bigger blow for Samsung.
