Opinion from the ruling states that Judge Koh 'erred' in interpreting the law in her June 29 ruling and that the lower court 'abused its discretion' with the injunction.
U.S. appeals court Thursday lifted a sales ban on Google-branded Samsung (IW 1000/15) smartphones in a patent fight with Apple (IW 500/9), saying there was no evidence sales were driven by features copied from the iPhone.
The appeals court in Washington overturned an injunction issued by a judge in California for the Galaxy Nexus phone as part of the lengthy patent case, saying the lower court "abused its discretion."
Judge Lucy Koh issued the injunction June 29, before a landmark jury ruling which found Samsung illegally copied features from Apple's iconic iPhone.
She ordered the temporary ban, saying that Apple "has shown a likelihood of establishing both infringement and validity" of its patents related to the iPhone's Siri virtual assistant software.
But the appeals court said Apple must show not only that it would suffer "irreparable harm" but "establish that the harm is sufficiently related to the infringement."
"In other words, it may very well be that the accused product would sell almost as well without incorporating the patented feature," the court said in an 18-page opinion.
"And in that case, even if the competitive injury that results from selling the accused device is substantial, the harm that flows from the alleged infringement... is not."
The appeals court in July issued a "stay" on the injunction, which allowed sales to continue while arguments were heard.
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