Don't expect to purchase Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the U.S. for a while. A U.S. District Judge in San Jose, Calif., has granted Apple a preliminary injunction against the device in Apple's long-running patent dispute with Samsung.
Samsung said it would immediately appeal the decision of Federal Judge Lucy H. Koh.
Apple sued to block Samsung from selling the Galaxy 10.1 in the U.S., claiming it is "virtually indistinguishable from the iPad." In an earlier ruling, the court agreed with Apple but the judge has yet to file a final ruling.
In granting the preliminary injunction, Koh required Apple to post a $2.6 million bond to compensate Samsung if the final ruling goes Samsung's way.Â
Apple filed suit last July accusing Samsung of violating its patent for the iPad. The case doesn't just center on the device's electronics, but also on its design.
Light & thin
Upon its release last year the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 won praise from technology reviewers, who called it "as thin as the iPad 2 and even lighter." It runs the Android operating system and features a three-megapixel back camera and two-megapixel front camera, with premium audio.
The court's decision, at least temporarily, removes one of the iPad's main competitors from the marketplace. It also removes the one that many saw as having the best chance to overtake Apple in the tablet wars.
"Apple sought a preliminary injunction of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, based on a single design patent that addressed just one aspect of the product's overall design," Samsung said in a statement. "Should Apple continue to make legal claims based on such a generic design patent, design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted."Â
How they voted
Yes
Yes