Ina Fried

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Galaxy Tab Ban Set to Take Effect as Judge Denies Samsung’s Request for a Reprieve

A federal judge on Monday paved the way for a ban on U.S. sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 to go into effect.

U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh issued an injunction on that product last week, as well as a separate injunction barring sales of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone in patent infringement cases brought by Apple against Samsung.

Samsung appealed the ruling over the weekend, asking a federal appeals court to put the injunctions on hold. Koh is also being asked to put the injunction on hold. On Monday she denied a stay for the Tab ban, but has yet to rule on that request relative to the Nexus.

“Samsung is disappointed with the court’s decision that denied our motion to stay,” a Samsung representative said on Monday evening. “We believe today’s ruling will ultimately reduce the availability of superior technological features to consumers in the United States. Regardless, we will continue to pursue a request for an appeal of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 preliminary injunction, which we filed on June 26 to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.”

The ban on the Nexus is potentially even more significant. Although not the biggest-volume Android phone, the Galaxy Nexus is critical strategically for both Samsung and Google, as it was the first device running the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android, and is also the reference point for developers testing the next version of the operating system, known as Jelly Bean.

Google gave out Galaxy Nexus devices to developers at last week’s I/O conference in San Francisco.

In order for the sales ban on the Nexus to go into effect, Apple must post a $95.6 million bond to account for the potential impact should a court later decide the injunction was issued in error.

Correction: This story originally indicated that Koh had denied the request to put the Galaxy Nexus injunction on hold. A ruling on that has yet to occur.

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