Apple Samsung Smartphone Ban Bid Delayed To December

Apple will have to wait until 6 December to see if it can get eight Samsung smartphones banned in the US after a judge delayed the hearing.

The Cupertino-based company filed the legal motion to have the eight devices banned after the US District Court for the Northern District of California found that Samsung had infringed on its design and software patents last Friday.

The court ordered the Korean manufacturer to pay Apple just over $1 billion (£664m) in damages. The figure was less than the $2.5 billion (£1.6bn) that it was demanding, but still represented a significant blow to Samsung.

Apple Samsung Lawsuit

Apple wants the Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 AT&T model, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Galaxy S2 T-Mobile model, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge and Galaxy Prevail to be banned in the US. It had been expected that the hearing would take place in September, but a judge has rearranged it until just before Christmas.

However, Samsung will still be able to appeal against Apple’s injunction against the sale of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 next month, despite the fact that the jury last week found that the tablet did infringe some of Apple’s patents. The device was banned in the US in June by the same court after Apple accused it of copying its market leading iPad.

Samsung shares rose by three percent following the announcement, news which will buoy the company after $12 billion was wiped off the company’s value after Friday’s decision.

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