Apple, Samsung Await Ruling in Australia Case
Preventing Samsung Electronics Co. from introducing its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia would render the tablet computer “commercially dead” in Australia, Samsung attorney Neil Young told a judge here Tuesday. “Our product would be kept out of the market for the Christmas period and into next year,” Mr. Young said. “Therefore, that product would be dead.”
Apple Inc. is seeking a temporary injunction against sales of the Galaxy Tab in Australia ahead of a final hearing that could go on for months on the U.S. company’s claim that aspects of Samsung’s touch-screen technology infringe Apple’s patents on its popular iPad tablet.
But after a day of testimony in Federal Court here, Justice Annabelle Bennett gave no firm date for when she would rule on the patent dispute that since early August has prevented Samsung from releasing its iPad challenger. “It’s going to take me a little time, but I will do it as quickly as possible given the urgency for both parties,” Justice Bennett said as she ended the hearing.
