Apple loses bid to ban U.S. sales of some Samsung smartphones

SAN FRANCISCO A federal judge on Monday denied a legal request by Apple Inc. to ban U.S. sales of Samsung smartphone models that a jury in August said illegally used Apple technology.

The decision is part of a series of rulings that U.S. Judge Lucy Koh says she is releasing over several weeks to address the many legal issues raised in the case.

Koh's ruling Monday night comes after Apple this summer was awarded $1.05 billion in damages. A jury found Samsung had copied critical features of Apple's iPhone and iPad.

Apple had urged the judge to permanently ban the U.S. sales of eight Samsung smartphone models, while also seeking to add millions more to the award.

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"The phones at issue in this case contain a broad range of features, only a small fraction of which are covered by Apple's patents," Koh wrote in her ruling. "Though Apple does have some interest in retaining certain features as exclusive to Apple, it does not follow that entire products must be forever banned from the market because they incorporate, among their myriad features, a few narrow protected functions," she wrote.

Earlier this month, Koh appeared ready to trim the $1 billion jury verdict Apple won over Samsung, but gave no indication as to how much.

Adding to the legal tangle, Apple filed a second lawsuit earlier this year, alleging that Samsung's newer products are unfairly using Apple's technology. That's set for trial in 2014. In addition, the two companies are locked in legal battles in several other countries.

Apple lawyer Harold McElhinny claimed earlier this year that Samsung "willfully" made a business decision to copy Apple's iPad and iPhone, and he called the jury's $1.05 billion award a "slap in the wrist."

Samsung lawyer Charles Verhoeven has argued that Apple was trying to tie up Samsung in courts around the world rather than competing with it head-on. Samsung has also claimed that it was deprived of a fair trial in a courthouse a dozen miles from Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.

[mav547166]

I like and own a lot of apple products, but they need to wake up and smell the coffee because Samsung is eating their lunch in the marketplace with superior and cheaper products. The courtroom is not going to save them from a repeat performance of the 80s when they were on top then as well.

[Well_You_Aint_Me]

True. Apple shot themselves in the foot when they limited the iPhone to just a few carriers. coming out initially with only AT&T wasn't a good business decision. I have a Samsung and I have grown use to the Android. Not likely to change to iPhone just to please Apple, even less likely now with a lawsuit.