Apple has successfully won the first step legal battle to keep Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphones off US retail shelves.
Just a week after Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 was banned in the US, Apple successfully campaigned on Friday to have the Galaxy Nexus temporarily held from sale in the US, after a judge ruled the iDevice giant was likely to suffer market share loss.
However, US District Judge Lucy Koh scheduled a hearing for later today to consider whether to put the injunction on hold, pending an appeal from Samsung, Reuters reported.
Apple first sought to have the Galaxy Nexus banned in the US in February this year, claiming Samsung's device violated four Apple patents including Siri, unified search and the slide-to-unlock feature.
Apple has long waged a legal war with its main rival amid claims Samsung copied the design of its iPhone.
It last week won a pre-trial ban on US sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, following a similar injunction placed on Australian sales of the tablet last year.
The preliminary ban in Australia was overturned locally two months later but a final ruling is yet to be issued.
Judge Koh said in Friday’s hearing she may also rule on whether to put the Galaxy Tab injunction on hold in today’s case.
Samsung said in a statement it was “disappointed” and would take all available measures to keep the Galaxy Nexus on sale.
Apple was forced to post a bond of $US95 million, should the injunction be overturned at appeal.
Apple has a market capital of $US544.5 billion dollars and $US100 billion in cash reserves.
The company did not respond to request for comment by the time of publication. It is unknown whether the company will consider similar action in Australia.
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