Appeals court reverses injunction on Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the US (update)

A U.S. Court of Appeals has now overturned an injunction on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

According to the reversal ruling, Judge Lucy Koh and the district court in California had abused its discretion when they granted the injunction in the first place.

There is also no dispute, however, that the Galaxy Nexus does not have a feature equivalent to Siri.

The patent that caused all the original drama was the “Apple 604 patent”, which had to do with universal search features on a mobile device. Apple claimed that the Nexus would case major harm to the sale of its iPhone if it continued to be sold in stores. At the time, Samsung argued that the universal search feature wasn’t essential to the device. They also said the Nexus smartphone wasn’t selling that well and didn’t represent a true threat to Apple. Despite Samsung’s argument, Koh ruled in favor of Apple in this instance.

What has changed since the original ruling against Samsung? The court says that Apple has never presented real evidence that tied consumer demand for the Galaxy Nexus to the infringing patent. In other words, Nexus owners were buying the device for reasons beyond just the universal search elements found in the smartphone.

As far as sales or reputation of the device is concerned, will the ruling make any difference? Probably not. The next generation Nexus devices are said to be on their way soon, and the OG Galaxy Nexus is starting to become a little long in the tooth. Regardless, this decision will add extra fuel to the fire when it comes to the Samsung Apple war. More than likely, it will also increase tension between Samsung and Apple fans. How do you feel about the Court of Appeals reversal?

SOURCES :- The Verge