Judge denies Apple's request for injunction against Samsung
A US judge rules that Apple won't "suffer irreparable harm" if Samsung continues to sell various older smartphone models that may include patent-infringing components.
As the Apple vs. Samsung patent war appears to be coming to a close, a US judge denied one of Apple's last-ditch attempts for a permanent injunction against Samsung.
US District Judge Lucy Koh ruled Wednesday not to place a permanent injunction against Samsung for selling certain older model smartphones. Those devices named by Apple included the Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Galaxy S3, and Stratosphere.
Apple's injunction request stems back to its winning a $119.6 million jury verdict against Samsung in May. The jury found Samsung infringed on several Apple patents -- and it was these infringed-upon patents that Apple wanted included in its injunction request.
One of the reasons that Koh may have decided not to impose the injunction against Samsung is that Apple reported stellar profit and solid iPhone sales in its third quarter financial report released in July.
"Apple has not demonstrated that it will suffer irreparable harm to its reputation or goodwill as an innovator without an injunction," Koh wrote in her ruling.
The two companies have been battling over patents for years in various suits, countersuits, and trials. But, it looks like the warring could soon come to an end. Earlier this month, the two companies agreed to drop all patent lawsuits against each other outside of the US.
Samsung said in a statement that it welcomed the ruling. CNET also contacted Apple for comment. We'll update the story when we get more information.