Court Bans Sale of Select Samsung Devices In Apple Patent Dispute

A California judge has ordered Samsung to stop selling some of its older model handsets that use technology at issue in a patent infringement case brought by Apple, CNET reported Monday.

According to the report U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh issued the ban Monday in granting Apple its motion for permanent injunction against the devices, saying that Apple would “suffer irreparable harm” if Samsung continues using the patented features.

CNET reported that Koh’s ban applies to U.S. sales of the Samsung Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Galaxy S3 and Stratosphere, many of which are already hard to find on domestic shelves.

The case has its roots in a May 2014 verdict that awarded Apple $119.6 million in damages for Samsung’s infringement on patents related to quick link, slide-to-unlock and word-correction technologies.

Though Koh initially denied Apple its injunction request after ruling the awarded damages were sufficient, Apple won an appeal of the decision in September. At the time, the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals ruled that the award of damages alone was not enough to resolve the case and sent the matter back to the district court for “proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

Koh’s ruling is just the latest twist in a series of legal battles between the two.

In a separate case examining claims Samsung had infringed on Apple’s patents in 23 products, a California jury initially ruled in Apple’s favor and ordered the South Korean company to pay Apple $1.049 billion in damages. That number was later reduced to $930 million, but an appeal led to the reconsideration of $382 million of that amount, leaving Samsung liable for $548 million in the short term.

In December, Samsung agreed to pay Apple the $548 million while it awaits a new trial to determine whether the remaining $382 million in damages will stand.

Samsung, however, hasn’t given up hope of a favorable outcome. In its December consent to pay damages, the South Korean company said it would reserve “all rights to reclaim or obtain reimbursement of any judgment amounts paid by Samsung to any entity in the event the partial judgment is reversed, modified, vacated or set aside on appeal or otherwise.”

Samsung has also said it will seek to appeal the original verdict to the Supreme Court.

This article has been updated to reflect the distinction between Samsung and Apple’s different legal battles.