Tech giant Apple Inc, battling Samsung Electronics Co over patents in
several countries, argued on Thursday that a U.S. appeals court should
reconsider its decision to overturn a pretrial sales ban on Samsung for
infringement.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in
October overturned a pretrial sales ban ordered by a lower court in
California. The order was to stop sales of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus
smartphone.
Apple argued that this was inappropriate and asked for
an "en banc review," which means that a larger panel of judges would
reconsider the decision made by the three-judge panel in October.
The
fight is over a single patent one that allows the smartphone to search
multiple data storage locations at once. For example, the smartphone
could search the device's memory as well as the Internet with a single
query.
Apple argued that the sales ban should be reinstated
because it uses the patent in question and competes with Samsung. The
three-judge panel had said that consumers did not buy Samsung phones
primarily because of the patent, and thus, a sales ban was
inappropriate.
It has become increasingly difficult for companies
to win sales bans related to patent infringement in recent years. Such
sales injunctions have been a key for companies trying to increase their
leverage in courtroom patent fights.
Apple, in a different patent
lawsuit, scored a sweeping legal victory over Samsung in August when a
U.S. jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the hugely
popular iPhone and iPad and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages.
The Nexus phone was not included in that trial, but is part of a tandem case Apple filed against Samsung earlier this year.
The case in the Federal Circuit is Apple Inc vs. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al., 12-1507.
Earlier
this week, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh rejected Apple's request for a
permanent sales ban against 26 mostly older Samsung phones, though any
injunction could potentially have been extended to Samsung's newer
Galaxy products. Koh cited the Federal Circuit's Nexus ruling as binding
legal precedent in her order.
In a separate court filing on Thursday, Apple said it intended to appeal Koh's ruling.
© Thomson Reuters 2012