There was a time when the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was the most popular Android-powered device in the competition. This is because the handset was released to showcase android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich when it was unveiled last year. And to further the popularity of the smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was for the longest time the only handset running ICS in its internals before other OEMs managed to rollout the update to non-Google developer devices early this year.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon is on sale now starting at 29.99.
This was the reason the Samsung Galaxy Nexus drew heavy fire from Cupertino-based Apple. In fact, Judge Lucy Koh of the Apple-Samsung patent trial fame issued an injunction against the Google flagship device prior to the trial itself because she agreed with Apple’s claim that the handset on the now infamous ‘604 patent more commonly known as the unified search or Siri patent. The injunction however was stayed by an Appeals Court until it was ready to make a ruling on the matter.
And now, the Appeals Court has handed down the verdict.
As it stands, the Appeals Court has overturned Judge Koh’s decision to place a sales ban on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus because it found that the good Judge has abused her discretion in placing the injunction on the handset. In addition to that, the decision was also made because apparently, Apple could not provide evidence to prove that the smartphone-buying population bought the Samsung Galaxy Nexus because of the patents it infringed on and we quote, “Apple has presented no evidence that directly ties consumer demand for the Galaxy Nexus to its allegedly infringing feature.”
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In addition to that, the Appeals Court said that “while Siri is a very popular feature in Apple’s iPhone, there is also no dispute, however, that the Galaxy Nexus does not have a feature equivalent to Siri.” Not only that, a causal nexus was not established by Apple between sales of the handset and the unified search feature in its ‘604 patent to which the court said “To establish a sufficiently strong causal nexus, Apple must show that consumers buy the Galaxy Nexus because it is equipped with the apparatus claimed in the ’604 patent — not because it can search in general, and not even because it has unified search.”
Because of this, the previous injunction placed on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has been reversed permanently the handset can now stay in the shelves for as long as it wants. Well, until the supposed LG Nexus 4 makes its debut, that it.
In other news, Samsung has already come out with an official statement regarding the decision of the Appeals Court and we quote, “We welcome this reversal by the Federal Circuit, finding that the District Court abused its discretion in ordering a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus. Today’s decision confirms that the role of patent law is to protect innovation and not to unreasonably stifle competition and restrict consumer choice. We will continue to take all appropriate measures to ensure the availability of our innovative products.”
Buy the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon now starting at 29.99.
