The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a direct rip-off of the Apple iPad and therefore can no longer be sold in the United States, that was the ruling handed down by US district court judge Lucy Koh on Tuesday. Judge Koh ruled that Samsung’ tablet “does not have a right to compete unfairly by flooding the market with infringing products.”
The preliminary injunction was handed down ahead of Friday’s scheduled hearing which likely means Judge Koh thought strongly of her decision to ban the Samsung based Android tablet.
In her decision Judge Koh wrote:
“Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly by flooding the market with infringing products,” she then added, “While Samsung will certainly suffer lost sales from the issuance of an injunction, the hardship to Apple of having to directly compete with Samsung’s infringing products outweighs Samsung’s harm in light of the previous findings by the Court.”
The case was decided upon after Apple submitted a five-page “design patent” which covers the look of a product and not the technology it uses.
Roger Parloff of Fortune notes, “to the untrained eye, looks like an unopened TV dinner. … Your kid could have drawn these.”
Following the court’s decision Apple put aside a $2.6 million bond to cover Samsung if an appeal shows Samsung did not infringe on Apple’s claims. The small bond amount is likely due to the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is an already outdated device.
The judge’s injunction does not stop Samsung from selling the Galaxy Tab 2.
Samsung has already filed notice that it will appeal the court’s ruling.
