Rich Fiscus
27 Oct 2011 10:30
An Australian appeals court has granted Samsung's request to take another look at the preliminary injunction barring sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in that country as soon as possible.
The ban was ordered 2 weeks ago in Apple's patent infringement case. Previously Apple rejected a last minute licensing agreement offered by Samsung in an attempt to get the tablet on store shelves before Christmas.
According to The Australian, Federal Court Justice Lindsay Foster ruled that the hearing will take place, "on a date or dates to be notified to the parties by the court as soon as practicable."
Meanwhile, Apple is also taking their fight directly to online resellers who continue to sell the tablet to Australian customers. Although the ban only applies to Samsung, it does open the door for Apple to get separate injunctions against individual retailers.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports Apple has sent letters to MobiCity.com.au and dMavo.com.au threatening legal action if they don't stop selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to Australian customers. However, as the paper points out, the fact many of the tablets are shipped from Hong Kong may make it difficult to back those threats up.
Samsung's attempts to get the iPhone 4S banned in various countries aren't going as well. As expected, an Italian court has declined to grant Samsung's request and ordered both parties to submit more evidence in December.
This is similar to what happened last week in Samsung's Dutch lawsuit, where the judge questioned Samsung's claims in light of the FRAND requirements for the patents in question. Samsung's complaints revolve around standard 3G technology, which they are required to license to any company under Fair And Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms.