Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Galaxy Tab 10.1 injunction moves closer after Federal Circuit denies Samsung a rehearing

Two weeks ago, Judge Lucy Koh denied, just for the time being, Apple's motion for a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 following a partially-successful appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). A hearing on that motion had been scheduled for June 7 but was canceled. Samsung had already filed its opposition to Apple's motion, advancing what was for the most part a 4G-specific argument.

Samsung's counsel convinced Judge Koh that it was too early for her court (the United States District Court for the Northern District of California) to order a preliminary injunction prior to receiving the formal mandate from the Federal Circuit. Samsung had announced its intent to ask for a rehearing, which could have caused considerable delay. On May 18, Apple had asked the CAFC "to Issue the Mandate Forthwith or Shorten the Time to File a Petition for Panel Rehearing or Rehearing En Banc", but a week later, the CAFC said this:

"In light of Appellees' [i.e., Samsung's] representation that they will file a petition for rehearing on May 29, 2012, the court will defer ruling for now on Appellant's [i.e., Apple's] motion to issue the mandate forthwith."

This morning the CAFC denied Samsung's petition for a rehearing (click on the image to enlarge):

As a result, the CAFC will presumably issue the mandate to the district court very shortly, and Apple will get to refile its motion. Given that Samsung had (as I said above) already filed its opposition brief, Judge Koh could set a very tight schedule since Samsung would just have to refile the brief it's already written -- the legal parameters and the facts haven't changed during those past few weeks.

Judge Koh and the parties are going to meet on Thursday for a summary judgment hearing.

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