Samsung’s request to expedite its appeal of the preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus phone has been granted in the US Court of Appeals. Samsung has until July 16 to file its court brief starting the process. Apple has until July 30 to respond to Samsung’s filing, with final comments due on August 6. Additionally, Apple’s response to the temporary stay on the sales injunction of the Galaxy Nexus was accepted by the court on time, and will be considered.
Apple takes Samsing to task for claiming harm to third parties other than itself, which is irrelevant when considering a product injunction. Samsung took issue with Apple’s directly contacting vendors selling Samsing enjoined products, and Apple seized upon that fact in response, saying that “[the company’s] letter shows nothing beyond the entirely predictable consequence of Samsung’s infringement — i.e., the infringing products must be taken off of the market. It is not a legally cognizable harm to halt downstream sales of stolen, pirated, counterfeit, or infringing products.”
At the same time as Apple’s filing, the court accepted Sprint and Google’s amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs in support of Samsung. Apple objected to the “friend of the court” claim, pointing out that Google is hardly a third party, considering that it co-developed the Galaxy Nexus, and accused Google of attempting to conceal its relationship with Samsung.
Apple’s suit began against Samsung last year for violation of several patents in the Korean manufacturer’s Android devices. Apple won a temporary restraining order against Samsung on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Nexus, but the sales ban on the Nexus has been stayed for the time being.
