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Tim Worstall Contributor


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Apple Loses A Legal Skirmish Against Samsung

We all know that Apple won and won big in the patent case against Samsung. But in legal battles, just as in military ones, the details of what happens after such a victory matter. A defeated army that is able to withdraw in good order, ready to fight another day, is very different from one that is completely routed and thus destroyed.

So it is with Apple’s patent victory. Yes, certainly, having won damages against Samsung is very nice: what happens to them in the appeals process will matter too though. However, the real win would be for Apple to be able to block the sale of Samsung products in the US. This would protect the richest market in the world from their major competitor: much more important for the long term than the amount of damages they might eventually get.

It is in this area that Apple seems to have lost a skirmish against Samsung:

A U.S. judge on Tuesday set a December 6 court date to hear Apple Inc’s request for a permanent injunction against Samsung Electronics‘ smartphones, which could delay the potential impact of Apple’s crushing legal victory.

Apple on Monday identified eight devices it will seek preliminary injunctions against, and said it would file for a permanent sales ban.


Given the lifespan of specific electronic products, given the time necessary to rejig Samsung’s products to get around the patents, the longer the delay in banning their sale the less of a win this is for Apple and the less damaging it is to Samsung’s long term prospects.

To rub salt into the wound, what appears to be happening is that the early hearing will be about unbanning Samsung’s Galaxy 10.1 tablet: it was banned before the recent patent case. However, one verdict in that case was that the tablet did not breach Apple’s patents on the iPad. So, while Apple did indeed win the patent case it looks like Samsung’s violating products might be on sale until the end of the year and also that their non-violating product could be back on the market late next month. It should be obvious that Apple would prefer the two hearings to be the other way around.

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