Court Bans Sales Of Samsung Galaxy In US

Samsung’s rival to iPad, Galaxy Tab, has been banned from sale in America, after a judge handed Apple a victory in the two companies’ long-running patent battle.

The ruling is a major blow for Samsung, whose Galaxy Tab tablets are the main rival to iPad.

The injunction prevents the Galaxy Tab 10.1 being sold in America, and is a blow to Samsung, whose tablets have been gaining ground on Apple’s.

The two companies have been locked in a battle on several continents over Samsung’s Galaxy tablets and smartphones.

Apple has waged an international patent war since 2010 as it seeks to limit the growth of Google’s Android system, the world’s best-selling mobile operating platform.

Google is also preparing its own tablet offering, and Microsoft recently unveiled its own Surface tablet.

U.S. District Judge, Lucy Koh, in San Jose, California, had previously denied Apple’s bid for an injunction on the tablet and multiple Galaxy smartphones.

However, a federal appeals court instructed Koh to reconsider Apple’s request on the tablet.

“Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly, by flooding the market with infringing products,” Koh wrote on Tuesday, adding that the order should become effective once Apple posts a $2.6 million bond to protect against damages suffered by Samsung if the injunction is later found to have been wrong.

Apple sold 13.6 million iPads in January-March to control 63 percent of the global tablet market, according to research firm Display Search.

Samsung sold 1.6 million tablets, giving it 7.5 percent of the market.

A decisive injunction in one of the U.S. legal cases could strengthen Apple’s hand in negotiating cross-licensing deals, where firms agree to let each other use their patented technologies.

Opponents of Apple say the iPhone and iPad maker is using patents too aggressively in its bid to stamp out competition.