Samsung rejected on tablet ban appeal

The Galaxy Tab ban will remain in effect.

After the landmark ruling in which Samsung was found guilty of violating Apple patents through numerous products including tablets and smartphones, the next question was to decide how to proceed vis a vis product bans.

Apple wants to ban a handful of Galaxy-branded Android phones. In addition, before the verdict was handed down, there had been a preliminary ban on US sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Of course Samsung isn’t taking this sitting down, so it is in the middle of the appeals process. That leaves the whole issue of product bans up in the air.

Samsung wanted US District Judge Lucy Koh, who has already cemented her place in technology and patent litigation history, to remove the ban until further in the appeals process.

Apple argued, however, that removing a ban now only to re-impose it later “would cause confusion in the market and is not necessary to prevent irreparable harm.” Apparently Koh agreed. Samsung’s motion was not granted.

The next step will be decided on December 6, when Samsung and Apple will reconvene in Koh’s courtroom as she decides whether or not to grant Apple a permanent US ban on eight Samsung devices.