Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is continuing to work its “thermonuclear war” against Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), which has actually been a proxy war against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Well, after Apple got a favorable result in a U.S. courtroom in claiming patent infringement against Samsung, the U.S.-based tech giant is looking at some serious legal obstacles in its pursuit of an injunction to ban U.S. sales of Samsung devices that were ruled to have violated Apple patents by a U.S. jury in September.
A report out Monday afternoon said that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is asking a full review by the full Federal Circuit Court of Appeals of a decision by a three-man panel which unanimously ruled against Apple in October when it sought a sales ban on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone – a device that was not part of the initial patent case heard in California during the summer of 2012. This trial is expected to hit the courtroom in 2014.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock fell slightly in Monday’s trading day to $523.90 a share.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reaching out to try to get the full nine appeals judges to hear the case, which historically only occurs when the three-member panel is split on its decision. But in its 3-0 decision, the panel ruled that the injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone is premature as the trial has not started and Apple had not demonstrated that sales of the Nexus smartphone have caused harm to Apple. Samsung is expected to file its argument against full appeals-court review this week.
The panel’s decision has been cited recently by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, who denied a request by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) seeking a permanent U.S. sales ban of several Samsung devices which were found to have violated several Apple patents in the summer 2012 trial. Apple is appealing Koh’s decision, which essentially held off any sales bans until the appeals process was completed and the case came to a final resolution.
What are the odds that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will get the review by the full appeals court?
A court watcher said a couple of factors weigh against the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) appeal – first, the issues involved in the appeal have not been controversial enough to consider further review, and the Federal Circuit is more likely to review a case if an outside group files a brief requesting it, which has not happened in this case, according to law professor R. Polk Wagner.
If Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) does not win this appeal, it may consider taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, though the court has recently provided narrow standards for imposing a sales ban on devices featured in patent cases. That precedent, according to Wagner, may likely mean the Supreme Court won’t consider the case.
We’d love your thoughts about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and this ongoing patent battle with Samsung and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). How do you see this battle ending, of it will end at all?
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