Apple's Samsung U.S. sales ban push to be considered in court

Apple Inc.'s request for a permanent ban on U.S. sales of some Samsung Electronics Co. mobile devices will be considered at a Dec. 6 court hearing.

Apple is seeking a U.S. sales ban on eight models of Samsung smartphones and a tablet computer after a federal court jury found on Aug. 24 that Samsung infringed six of seven patents at stake at a trial in San Jose, California, and awarded Apple damages of $1.05 billion. Seven of the eight smartphones that Apple seeks to ban are part of Samsung's Galaxy line.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh yesterday also scheduled a hearing on Samsung's request to lift a preliminary sales ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Tab computer for Sept. 20 if she deems it necessary.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, won a ban on U.S. sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in June that the Suwon, South Korea-based company said wouldn't significantly affect its business. Apple, which seeks to make that prohibition permanent, said in an Aug. 27 court filing that Koh should also bar U.S. sales of a version of the tablet that runs on mobile networks, even though that product wasn't covered by the Aug. 24 verdict.

Samsung Requests Samsung sought to have the ban on the Tab 10.1 lifted on Aug. 26 after the jury found the device didn't infringe the Apple design patent on which the June 26 court-ordered sales ban was based. The jury instead found that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 infringed three of Apple's software patents.

Samsung asked Koh on Aug. 27 to delay the implementation of the jury judgment until the issues of the sales bans are resolved and the company files an appeal. Samsung isn't required to file a notice of appeal until 14 days after the post-trial issues, including the sales bans, are resolved.

"Apple will suffer no prejudice from this limited stay," Samsung's lawyers wrote in the filing.

Samsung said it's prepared to post a bond for the $1.05 billion judgment, if the court requires.

No hearing has been scheduled on the delay request.

Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple, and Adam Yates, a spokesman for Samsung, didn't immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment yesterday on the hearing dates.

The case is Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., 11- cv-01846, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).